Mission Statement

Aim

The Economic Rights Campaign Working Group works to ensure that development projects in Tibet do not violate the human rights of the Tibetan people or their environment. The CWG believes that development projects in Tibet must provide community welfare, socio-economic benefits and environmental safeguards for the Tibetan people, in consultation with them.

Methodology

The CWG uses information from Tibet and a human rights framework to evaluate development projects in Tibet, and campaigns for the inclusion of international Tibet until the Tibetan people can, for their own ends, and with full free, prior and informed consent, control and make decisions about the extraction and disposal of their mineral wealth using the highest standards of participatory governance and ecological management."

The key current focus of the Economic Rights CWG is to push for a moratorium on resource extraction in Tibet.

Moratorium on Resource Extraction in Tibet

Operative Statement
Effective October 1st, 2007, an international coalition of concerned organisations is calling for a moratorium on all resource extraction in Tibet:

"There shall be no mining in Tibet until the Tibetan people can, for their own ends, and with full free, prior and informed consent, control and make decisions about the extraction and disposal of their mineral wealth using the highest standards of participatory governance and ecological management."

Explanatory Notes:

1. The moratorium is applicable to all individuals, governments and companies engaged in or seeking to be engaged in resource extraction inside Tibet. It is based on the principled position that under occupation, local Tibetan people impacted by the mining site are not in a position to give free, prior, and informed consent.
2. The moratorium is applicable to all of historical Tibet. [1]
3. The moratorium applies to all of Tibet's known minerals. Other natural resources, such as water and forests, are presently exempt from this call.
4. The moratorium on resource extraction is consistent with the spirit of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile's Development Guidelines, issued in 1999.

Request for Endorsement:

The coalition requests that the private sector, governments and non-governmental organisations worldwide, endorse and promote the above-outlined moratorium on resource extraction in Tibet.

Sign on here to the Moratorium on Resource extraction in Tibet!

Background

The exploitation of Tibet's natural resources has been a concern to Tibetans and their supporters for many years. The opening of the Gormo-Lhasa railway in 2006 and rapid growth in the number of mining operations in recent years has intensified these concerns.

Tibet has 126 known minerals, including rich deposits of chromium, copper, iron and boron. [2] In 2007, China's top geologist confirmed that vast deposits of copper, iron, lead and zinc had been found along the route of the newly opened railway, indicating that a primary purpose of the railway is to open up Tibet's mineral wealth for rapid extraction. One copper deposit in Qulong, Tibet, has a proven reserve of 7.89 million tons, making it the second largest copper find in China and Tibet. The Government of China has also acknowledged that mining is now one of Lhasa's "pillar industries". [3]

With these developments, there has been an unprecedented increase in exploration and investment in Tibet's extractive sector. Chinese, Canadian and British mining companies have taken the lead, often in joint ventures and with considerable support from their governments. In March 2007, a report commissioned by the Government of Canada to look at corporate social responsibility in the extractive sector included the suggestion that "international 'no-go' zones for Canadian extractive companies be established, including countries with serious and widespread human rights abuses, such as Burma and Tibet." [4]

Even TAR [5] authorities have acknowledged the adverse effects that mining can have on Tibet's fragile environment. Most recently, in June 2007, they announced a ban on the mining of gold, mercury, arsenic and peat to preserve the mineral resources and protect the environment. [6] Chinese authorities have also recently announced their decision to levy a deposit on mining companies that wish to exploit the TAR's mineral resources.

While these initiatives can be viewed as positive steps, they do not protect the rights of the Tibetan people, their culture or their environment. Nor do they address the challenges currently faced by the Tibetan people as they seek full participation in decisions that affect the development of their country. In this context, mining poses a serious threat to the Tibetan people, their culture and their fragile environment and a moratorium is the best precautionary measure until these issues can be resolved.