When: 28 April 2022; 10.00 am - 11.30 am EAT
Where: Online
What: The Third Pole (TP) – the Asian water tower and largest alpine ecosystem in the world – comprises the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding areas of the Pamir-Hindu Kush mountains in the west, the Hengduan mountains in the east, the Tienshan and Qilian mountains in the north, and the Himalayas in the south. It covers over 5 million square kilometers with an average altitude of over 4,000 meters above sea level and contains the largest ice mass outside the polar regions.
This report is the first comprehensive assessment of environmental changes in and around the TP and aims to provide a collective understanding, based on interdisciplinary research, in four key fields of study: climate, water bodies, ecosystems and human impacts. The report discusses climate change, freshwater availability, ecosystem change and human influences on the environment. The report highlights the complex interactions between the climatic and biophysical environment of the TP, and thus the need for an interdisciplinary approach to address major challenges the TP faces today and in the near future.
Speakers:
- Mr. Maarten Kappelle, Head of Scientific Assessments, Science Divison, UNEP
- Ms. Isabelle Louis, Deputy Director, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, UNEP
- Mr. Basanta Shrestha, Director of Strategic Cooperation, ICIMOD
- Prof. Yaping Zhang, Vice-President, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Mr. Jian Liu, Director, Science Division, UNEP
- Prof. Tandong Yao, Co-chair, Third Pole Environment (TPE)
- Prof. Lonnie G. Thompson, Co-chair, TPE
- Prof. Deliang Chen, Co-chair, TPE
- Mr. Matthias Georg Jurek, Programme Management Officer, UNEP Vienna Office
- Dr. Nakul Chettri, Regional Programme Manager – Transboundary Landscapes, ICIMOD
- Ms. Ermira Fida, Deputy Secretary, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
- Prof. Shilong Piao, Peking University, China
- Dr. Ram Prasad Chaudhary, Professor Emeritus of Tribhuvan University, Nepal
- Ms. Tina H.P. Schoolmeester, GRID-Arendal
- Mr. Rinzin Dorji, Chief Forestry Officer/Park Manager, Department of Forests and Park Services, Bhutan
The event is hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and co-organized by UNEP - International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP), International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ITPCAS).
