CATALYST PLANET - Geopolitical Tensions Hinder Climate Science in the Himalayas

The Himalayas remain one of the most susceptible regions in the world to climate change.

In order to address the imminent threat of climate change in the Himalayan region, environmental ministers from eight countries had hoped to meet in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu in April. Organized by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), it had taken over two years of convincing environmental leaders to work together as geopolitical tensions in the region continued to rise. An assessment conducted by ICIMOD reveals that the Himalayas are predicted to lose more than one-third of their ice caps by the end of the century, underscoring the importance of international collaboration on this issue. The event ended up being canceled, though, due to the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Passing through Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan, the Himalayas act as a barrier between countries. Home to four of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots and more than 35,000 plant and 200 animal species, the Himalayan region is one of the most biodiverse in the world. The Himalayas also contain the world’s third-largest ice deposits (after Antarctica and the Arctic) with over 15,000 glaciers scattered throughout the region. These glaciers, known as the “water towers of Asia,” are the starting points for many of Asia’s largest rivers, such as the Indus, Ganges, Yangtze and Mekong, and help sustain over 2 billion people.

Overflowing glacial lakes pose severe risks for mountain communities, as rising water levels from melted ice caps result in floods of water, ice and rocks down mountainsides, washing away homes, infrastructure and crops. Lake Imja in particular, a high-altitude lake near Mount Everest in Nepal, poses a threat to Sherpa communities living in the mountain valleys.

A red panda, one of many species endemic to the Himalayan region. Ducker. CC2.0

From a geopolitical standpoint, the Himalayas have served as a political and cultural buffer between India and China since ancient times, which resulted in little interaction between their cultures and governments. As the Himalayas were considered impassable for much of history, the delineation of international borders was not given much importance until recently. Currently, however, nearly all of their 2,500-mile border is disputed. One of the most contested regions is Ladakh in northern India, where the most violent clashes in the last 45 years have recently occurred between India and China. Another region is the Mahakali river basin in northwestern Nepal, which acts as a meeting point between Nepal, India and China. The Himalayan region is also one of the most heavily militarized in the world.

Dhankar village in India’s Spiti Valley. The Adventurous b3n. CC2.0

Despite the urgency of current climate science research and political action, scientific progress in the region continues to suffer. When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its fourth assessment report in 2007, the entire Himalayan region was listed as a “black hole” for data. Although governments tried to address the problem, there still has not been much action, with similar concerns in the IPCC’s fifth assessment report published in 2014. One of the major difficulties is weak data-sharing between countries, which is fraught with secrecy. Although scientists advocate for open data-sharing between countries, many governments disregard their requests for national security reasons. “To be frank, scientific culture doesn’t have deep roots in this region,” says Dipak Gyawali, Nepal’s former water resources minister. “Countries think somebody else will use the science that they are doing. That is wrong. Science ultimately benefits others beyond borders.”

Climate change remains one of the most existential threats to humanity. Working together to address transnational environmental issues in the Himalayas will not only protect its fragile ecosystems but will also foster diplomacy and peace between nations in a politically volatile part of the world.