China starts construction on world's largest hydropower dam in Tibet
The project is part of China's push to expand renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions.
Consisting of five cascade hydropower stations, the dam will be located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River and could affect millions downstream in India and Bangladesh.
Li described the hydropower project as a "project of the century" and said special emphasis "must be placed on ecological conservation to prevent environmental damage", Xinhua said in its report on Saturday.
Authorities have not indicated how many people the Tibet project would displace and how it would affect the local ecosystem, one of the richest and most diverse on the plateau.
But according to Chinese officials, hydropower projects in Tibet will not have a major impact on the environment or on downstream water supplies. India and Bangladesh have nevertheless raised concerns about the dam.
NGOs including the International Campaign for Tibet say the dam will irreversibly harm the Tibetan plateau and that millions of people downstream will face severe livelihood disruptions.
The dam is estimated to have a capacity of 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually and is expected to help meet local energy demand in Tibet and the rest of China.
The project will play a major role in meeting China's carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, stimulate related industries such as engineering, and create jobs in Tibet, Xinhua said in December when the project was first announced.
A section of the Yarlung Zangbo falls a dramatic 2,000 metres (6,561 feet) within a short span of 50 km (31 miles), offering huge hydropower potential.
The Yarlung Zangbo becomes the Brahmaputra river as it leaves Tibet and flows south into India's Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states and finally into Bangladesh.
China has already started hydropower generation on the upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo, which flows from the west to the east of Tibet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
India's Milky Mist files draft papers for $236 million IPO
July 21 (Reuters) - Milky Mist has filed for a 20.35 billion rupees ($235.94 million) initial public offering, comprising a fresh issue of shares up to 17.85 billion rupees and existing offer-for-sale of 2.5 billion rupees, draft papers showed on Monday. ($1 = 86.2490 Indian rupees)
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
UN concerned by Taliban's arrest of Afghan women for dress code violations
The United Nations has expressed concern about the Taliban's arrest of Afghan women and girls for their alleged failure to comply with dress code restrictions. In May 2022, the Taliban government issued a decree calling for women to show only their eyes and recommending they wear a head-to-toe burqa. Advertisement The Taliban, which returned to power in 2021, has cracked down on the way women dress and behave in public, notably through morality laws forbidding them to show their faces outside the home. The UN mission in Afghanistan said it was concerned by the arrest of 'numerous' women and girls in Kabul between July 16 and 19, who authorities claimed had not followed instructions on wearing the hijab, or the Islamic headscarf. 'These incidents serve to further isolate women and girls, contribute to a climate of fear, and erode public trust,' the mission added, without details including the number of arrests or the ages and where they have been held. The UN mission urged the Taliban government to 'rescind policies and practices' that restrict women and girls' human rights and fundamental freedoms, particularly the ban on education beyond sixth grade. Advertisement A Taliban representative was not immediately available for comment. In January 2024, the country's Vice and Virtue Ministry said it had arrested women in the Afghan capital for wearing 'bad hijab'. A ministry spokesman, Abdul Ghafar Farooq, did not say how many women were arrested or what constituted bad hijab. The UN mission said at the time it was looking into claims of ill treatment of the women and extortion in exchange for their release. Advertisement The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US and Nato forces. Since then, the Taliban administration has sought international recognition while enforcing its interpretation of Islamic law. In July, Russia became the only country to grant formal recognition.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Russia-backed Indian refiner condemns EU curbs, weighs legal options
NEW DELHI, July 21 (Reuters) - Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy on Monday condemned the European Union's sanctions on it and said it was exploring legal options against the latest "restrictive measures". On Friday, the EU approved its 18th package of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, which includes sanctions on Nayara Energy, a refinery backed by Russian oil major Rosneft ( opens new tab. "Nayara Energy strongly condemns the European Union's unjust and unilateral decision to impose restrictive measures on our company," it said in a statement. Rosneft holds a 49.13% stake in Nayara and a similar stake is owned by a consortium, Kesani Enterprises Co Ltd, led by Italy's Mareterra Group and Russian investment group United Capital Partners. "We are actively exploring all legal and appropriate avenues to address this situation and to protect the interests of our operations, employees, and our stakeholders," Nayara said, asserting that the latest EU sanctions had "no legal basis". The company, which operates a 400,000 barrels per day refinery in western India, has lined up more than 700 billion rupees ($8.1 billion) of investment for projects including petrochemicals and the expansion of its fuel retail stations. "We categorically state that this unilateral move by the European Union is founded on baseless assertions, representing an undue extension of authority that ignores both international law and the sovereignty of India," it said. India has said it does not support "unilateral sanctions" by the EU. ($1 = 86.2980 Indian rupees)
