Members of Sonam Wangchuk’s expedition cut ice from a glacier in Ladakh. Photo: Sonam Dorje, Himalayan Institute for Alternatives, Ladakh
- On April 22, Sonam Wangchuk and a group of young climate activists presented a block of glacial ice cut from Ladakh to the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala.
- In an interview to The Wire Science, Wangchuk described the purpose of this arduous journey, why the group met the Dalai Lama, and the climate crisis in Ladakh.
- Wangchuk also spoke about how to reach older people indifferent to the crisis, a third World War, armies in the Himalaya and cryptocurrencies.
Bengaluru: On April 18, innovator and reformer Sonam Wangchuk and a team of 25 young climate activists hiked and bicycled across the Khardung La – one of the world’s tallest mountain passes – to Dharamsala, carrying a small chunk of glacial ice for four days.
At the end of their journey, they presented the ice block to the Dalai Lama, together with a note that climate change was melting Himalayan glaciers and destroying the settlements of people living there. The Wire Science corresponded with Wangchuk, who conceptualised and led the expedition, about its purpose, ideas to redefine the economy and the militarisation of the third pole.
The Q&A is presented in full below. The questions are in bold. The answers have been lightly edited for clarity and style.
You transported a block of ice from Khardung La to Dharamsala. Please tell us why you took this dangerous path.
Our idea was to highlight the urgency of climate action needed to counter the effects of climate change, as can be clearly seen in the fringes of the planet, such as us in the Himalayas with our glaciers melting and those in the coastal areas where people’s habitats and other habits of life are drowning. So people don’t seem to be paying attention, they go about business as usual.
As our glaciers melt very fast, they cause droughts because farmers don’t get the water they need in spring, and cause floods in the mid-summer. And cloud bursts are happening more frequently. So we in the Himalaya are attacked frequently, because we get flash floods and drought.
I saw the first flash flood in the village where we are setting up our alternative university, the ‘Himalayan Institute of Alternatives’, in Phyang valley, Ladakh, in 2006. After a flash flood hit the village, people died, houses were washed away, farms and fields flooded. I asked an old man, ‘when was the last time you remember seeing such a flood?’ He said, “I don’t even remember. I have only heard stories.”
However, the next flood after this was 2010, then 2012, then 2015, then 2017. It has become very frequent and it is because each flash flood washes away the little vegetation in the region and the fine soil that can absorb the rain and cloud bursts. So the next rainfall does not need to be big, as there is nothing to absorb it.
This is happening in front of my eyes and nobody is paying attention. Everyone is worried about the next business acquisition, the next car, the 42nd pair of shoes. So there is a need to raise an alarm and do some symbolic circus to pull people’s attention towards reality. I think more drastic things need to be done, this was really mild.
- Young people are taking to it in a very nice way, but old people don’t seem to care. For the older generation, we should consider another strategy.
So we thought it might be interesting to bring a piece of melting ice to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, as he is one of the eldest and wisest environmental activists alive on the planet. So maybe through His Holiness’s amplification, people are more likely to pay heed.
We also did not want to do it the easy way – take a helicopter, chip a piece of glacial ice and take it down. We did not want to add to the problems in the region. We wanted to do it the cleanest, greenest way, with support from the young, who will inherit the earth. So we designed this expedition of sorts, where bicycles would go to the Khardung La pass, which is one of the highest in the world at 5,360 m, and then climb up the glacier and bring the ice.
So, accordingly, 25 young people bicycled up Khardung La and went up the glacier. His Holiness was very amused and amazed that the ice had come from Ladakh. He even likened it to a gem or a sacred jewel in a very jovial way. Then we explained the symbolism behind it – about how glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau and the third pole from Ladakh to Lhasa to Tawang were melting, and that this is no mere piece of ice but a piece of solid message from people in the mountains: ‘live simply so people in the mountains can live’.
The movement ‘I Live Simply’, which you helped found, is targeted towards raising youth awareness and participation with respect to climate change. Research states that older citizens contribute to climate change far more than younger citizens and care less about climate change than younger citizens. What would a movement dedicated to raising older people’s awareness on the same issue look like?
In the region of Ladakh, I’ve been involved in climate change mitigation by working on passive heating in buildings that are all-solar. This also involves creating human-made glaciers to store winter water until summer. But we are of the opinion that this is nothing to be proud of, as this is all minuscule in comparison to climate change.
Because the answer is not to be found in the mountains of Ladakh. The answers are in the big cities of the world where people go on with business as usual. On Gandhi’s 150th anniversary, we should also address the world and be audacious enough to attempt to change the world. So we came up with this initiative to change the behaviour of people in big cities.
We designed it in a way that is appealing to young people in a non-preachy way. We designed it as a crowdfunding platform where you don’t source money, as money cannot help the planet. You contribute pledges rather than money – you can pledge to change your lifestyle from cars to bicycles, planes to trains, non-vegetarian carbon-intensive food to vegetarian food. Or for corporations, switching their thermostats from 18º C to 26º C, and the more trees the better.
- This is the third World War. There are no gunshots or violence or blood flowing on the streets. But there is a lot of violence to humans and to nature.
The site shows you how many dollars’ worth you’ve contributed; each tree is worth a certain number of dollars. It makes people feel good when they contribute, and it is not imaginary when people contribute if they are really serious about their pledge.
Young people are taking to it in a very nice way, but old people don’t seem to care. For the older generation, we should consider another strategy.
Elder people are more religious and spiritual, which is a good thing, but it is a misplaced religious and spiritual approach that people hold today. All religions talk of ahimsa, and talk about how bad it is with respect to killing animals, but violence today is not happening via guns – it is happening through our lifestyle, which causes environmental challenges that then cause death and destruction.
Can you believe that air pollution alone causes 7 million deaths? Ten million people die from climate-related causes per year. This is more deaths than during World Wars I and II combined. In a way, this is the third World War. There are no gunshots or violence or blood flowing on the streets. But there is a lot of violence to humans and to nature.
According to the WWF, 58% of wildlife has been wiped out in the past 60 years or so. It took eternity to build that kind of ecosystem, and it evaporated due to human habits within 60 years. So approaching old people to pay attention to climate change means redefining spirituality, and this is why I have high hopes from people like His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They can redefine what sin and virtue are. Sin should be carbon emissions, and making oxygen should be pious and virtuous.
You state that the Indian army should take the lead in reducing emissions. How do you visualise the army, a huge source of emissions and ecological damage by virtue of war and militarisation, taking this step?
The Ladakh region is one of the most carbon-intensive regions from the defence point of view. Such heights! Three armies are jumbled there, trying to keep people who travel here from tropical areas warm. Imagine the amount of oil used. My vision with the Indian army is that we become carbon-neutral and set an example, at least for logistics and other parts, if not transport in the high mountains.
But the accommodation and other buildings can become carbon-neutral – even positive with solar power. Why transport oil and burn it in inefficient burners, which can also cause fire accidents that kill jawans? This way, I really hope that the Chinese, Indian and Pakistani armies can help reduce the ecological damage caused by the militarisation of the third pole. Well, this is for the current state of affairs.
- In the face of climate change, armies look like two neighbours fighting over a fence, when a tsunami is coming very close. India, China, Pakistan squabbling over borders is a joke.
But I would pray and wish for a time when we don’t need armies in these heights – or anywhere in the world. Young soldiers from China and India can go back home from the borders and do more productive things. Fighting on the borders should become old-fashioned, as we are dealing with bigger enemies.
In the face of climate change, armies look like children fighting. I think it is like two neighbours fighting over a fence, when a tsunami is coming very close. India, China, Pakistan squabbling over borders is a joke. We should cooperate and use the defence budget we have to finance climate action. It is silly to keep fighting and burning money rather than defending human civilisation against climate change.
You propose an idea for redefining economics, spirituality and religion – to be more ecology-centric. For example, the number of trees in a country defines its economic strength. But how would the number of trees in a nation help bring people out of poverty or increase purchasing power, both things a strong economy is expected to do?
- Seeing things like cryptocurrency gaining popularity, I think green currency should not be out of place at this point.
I have been thinking about this crazy idea – don’t know how economically sound it is, but I think our whole economy should be based on the most precious thing we have at the moment. When money was invented, it was based on gold, because it was precious and rare. … I feel that today, the most precious is oxygen and the most problematic is carbon dioxide. It should be based on something that is based on our survival. So what absorbs carbon dioxide and lets out oxygen should become precious. This is trees, not some expensive machine.
If this happens, then countries will plant more trees and the more trees they plant, the more wealth they will have. Other countries will buy that carbon credit. Countries like India, with land and potential, can plant trees and other countries can sponsor the planting of these trees to neutralise their carbon emissions.
It sounds like a crazy idea, but not when I think of cryptocurrency – which is a silly idea based on some digital mining that adds value to the currency. Vegetation becomes the basis of our economy, and then everything else starts working towards this goal of increasing oxygen.
I have not got feedback on this idea, and economists can comment better, but seeing things like cryptocurrency gaining popularity, I think green currency should not be out of place at this point.
Aditi Murti is an intern at The Wire Science.