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China Tibet

VOICES OF THE HIGH GROUND

HOLDING CHINA TO ACCOUNT FOR CLIMATE CHANGE When you talk with European diplomats about China and climate change, they sigh. Not only have China’s fast rising emissions negated all of Europe’s efforts at cutting emissions; China berates Europeans who raise the issue, calling them imperialists using climate as an excuse to try to hold China […]

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Tibet

TIBET IN PARIS

TIBET AS CHINA’S BARGAINING CHIP IN PARIS As the global climate negotiations get under way in Paris, the planet awaits its man-made future. The Tibetan Plateau, not a net contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, also awaits outcomes from Paris, knowing full well it is a planetary front line, warming faster than almost any inhabited region […]

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Tibet

PITCHING TIBET, IN A NEW KEY

At the European Parliament on 16 November, at the European Union Diplomatic Corps (EU External Action) on 19 November, at the Belgian Foreign Ministry 19 Nov and the French Foreign Ministry 20 November, I had opportunity to pitch the case for Tibet, in a new way. Europe’s diplomats and parliamentarians deserve our sympathy when they […]

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Tibet

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ON THE THIRD POLE

A BRIEFING FOR MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, BRUSSELS, 16 NOV 2015   BY GABRIEL LAFITTE At a time when we are preoccupied with immediate dangers, it is wonderful to find an audience willing to consider the long term. All too readily the long term danger is pushed aside by the threat before us now, […]

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China Tibet

TIBET’S ABRUPT ENTRY INTO THE ATOMIC AGE

CONFLICT MINERALS OF TIBET: #4 IN A SERIES: URANIUM This series of blogs highlights the specific minerals extracted from the Tibetan Plateau, despite the protests of Tibetan communities determined to protect their livelihoods, sacred mountains and pilgrimage routes. This series also introduces, to Tibetan readers, the new conflict minerals regulatory regime which effectively bans the […]

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Tibet

TIBETAN COPPER: WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS

CONFLICT MINERALS OF TIBET: #3 IN A SERIES: COPPER GEARS UP BIGTIME AMID COMMODITY PRICE CRASH   This series of blogs highlights the specific minerals extracted from the Tibetan Plateau, despite the protests of Tibetan communities determined to protect their livelihoods, sacred mountains and pilgrimage routes. This series also introduces, to Tibetan readers, the new […]

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China Tibet

TIBETAN LITHIUM IN YOUR POCKET

CONFLICT MINERALS OF TIBET: #2 IN A SERIES: LITHIUM   This series of blogs highlights the specific minerals extracted from the Tibetan Plateau, despite the protests of Tibetan communities determined to protect their livelihoods, sacred mountains and pilgrimage routes. This series also introduces, to Tibetan readers, the new conflict minerals regulatory regime which effectively bans […]

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China Tibet

GOLD FROM TIBET: AN UPDATE

CONFLICT MINERALS OF TIBET: #1 IN A SERIES: GOLD This series of blogs highlights the specific minerals extracted from the Tibetan Plateau, despite the protests of Tibetan communities determined to protect their livelihoods, sacred mountains and pilgrimage routes. This series also introduces to Tibetan readers, the new conflict minerals regulatory regime which effectively bans the […]