Bhutan’s rivers, often dubbed as white gold for their contribution to the country’s economy, are fed by melting glaciers on the high Himalayas. However, the glaciers, which sustain life along the river basins in Bhutan and beyond the Indian plains, are melting. It is melting faster than it should be. At the Bhutan Pavilion in the 28th Conference of Parties, COP28, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the precarious nature of the receding Himalayan glaciers and its negative impact on people’s livelihoods was discussed, yesterday.
A scientific study was carried out on the Chamkhar Chhu and Paa Chhu to determine how much of the total water flow makes up water from the melted glaciers.
The study found that on average, 45 per cent of the total water flow in Chamkhar Chhu is melted glaciers. The number is between 33 to 49 per cent for Paa Chhu.
Speaking at the Bhutan Pavilion event, the National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology’s chief glaciologist talked about the consequences of fast-receding glaciers.
“Glaciers are inevitable to our river systems due to their contribution from melted water. If all glaciers melt, that is how much the water flow will reduce. Glaciers are very important to the country’s water resources,” said Karma, Chief Glaciologist of the National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology.
According to the chief glaciologist, glaciers in Bhutan are melting at a rapid pace of 16 metres annually.
He also added that mountainous countries across the globe should come together and form an alliance to push the mountains and climate change agenda to the forefront of global discussions.
“We climate change-induced damages occur, we need to adapt to it. For adaptation, just having money is not enough. We need scientific backing and support in terms of equipment. If all these can be included in the mountains and climate change agenda, the mountainous countries will benefit a lot.”
At the event, the Deputy Director General of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said that frontline communities are suffering the most from climate change despite them contributing least to the crises.
She also added that various investments and flows of finance that are associated with climate change are simply not reaching the front-line communities.
“We do still need to lobby and advocate very hard for increased financing, particularly for that finance to flow to countries such as Bhutan, who are already doing all they can to be carbon neutral, to be nature positive, and yet continue to face these risks and hazards. But the second really important area is to really work out how do we get this finance to flow to these communities,” said Izabella Koziell, Deputy Director General of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.
Similarly at the event, Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk, who for the past three years has been collecting Himalayan glacier ice inside a discarded plastic bottle also lessons and experiences from his climate messenger trip across Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.
Among Jamyang’s stories, people in the villages of Sindh Province in Pakistan still living in tents, a year on after last year’s devasting floods. The floods were also attributed to climate change and melting glaciers.
Sherub Dorji, Dubai
