China's Green Energy Ambitions Built on Extractive Practices in Tibet

Strategic Insights -

China's rapid ascent as a clean energy superpower is built on a troubled foundation in Tibet, where extractive practices are ravaging the environment and disrespecting indigenous voices. The Chinese Communist Party's resource extraction policies in Tibet have intensified, transforming the region into a strategic frontier for lithium and copper mining and hydroelectric expansion. While China installed more renewable energy infrastructure than the rest of the world combined in 2025 and dominated electric vehicle manufacturing and battery production, this success has come at the cost of environmental degradation, forced relocations, and suppression of dissent.

Key Takeaways:

  • China's green energy ambitions are increasingly tied to the exploitation of Tibet's mineral-rich lands, with lithium and copper mining projects poised to become the country's most significant sources.
  • The Mamicuo Salt Lake project in Ngari, Tibet, is expected to produce 50,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate and 17,000 tonnes of borax per year, while the Julong Copper Mine is undergoing a massive expansion, aiming to triple daily ore processing to 350,000 tonnes.
  • The CCP's 'high-altitude ecological relocation' policy has facilitated forced displacements, enabling easier access for mining operations while silencing resistance.
  • Environmental defenders like Tsawo Tsering have faced imprisonment for exposing illegal mining practices, reflecting a broader pattern of censorship and surveillance aimed at quelling dissent and maintaining control over Tibet's natural wealth.
  • Hydropower development has compounded ecological concerns, with the planned mega-dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo River threatening landslides and earthquakes, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological Protection Law has done little to safeguard the region.
  • Scientific assessments have underscored Tibet's vulnerability to climate change, with the region warming at more than twice the global average, threatening its role as the 'Third Pole' and 'Water Tower of Asia.'

Statistics:

  • An estimated 6.5 million tonnes of lithium ore have been discovered in Nyagchu County, Sichuan Province, catapulting China's global lithium reserves from 6% to 16.5%.
  • China's green energy ambitions reached new heights in 2025, with the country installing more renewable energy infrastructure than the rest of the world combined.
  • The Mamicuo Salt Lake project is expected to produce 50,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate per year.
  • The Julong Copper Mine is undergoing a massive expansion, aiming to triple daily ore processing to 350,000 tonnes.
  • The Yulong Mine in Chamdo Prefecture is targeting an annual capacity of 30 million metric tonnes of copper.
  • The Yarlung Tsangpo River is the site of a planned mega-dam projected to generate 300 billion kilowatt-hours annually, three times the output of the Three Gorges Dam.
  • Over 800 seismic events have been recorded in the seismically active zone where the mega-dam is planned.

Sources:

  • "China's lithium boom threatens Tibet's fragile ecosystems" by Greenpeace (no date)
  • "Tibet's lithium rush: the environmental cost of China's clean energy ambitions" by The Guardian (January 15, 2025)
  • "China's coal-to-clean energy pivot hides grim truth" by Asia Times (April 12, 2023)
  • "Tibet's ecological protection law: a critical assessment" by Journal of Environmental Law and Policy (Volume 3, Issue 1, 2024)
  • "Tibet's climate change story" by The Third Pole (no date)
  • "Rise of the World's Third Pole: The Power of Ice and Snow" by History of Science Society (Volume 24, Issue 2, 2017)