An Evening Dialogue with MICHAEL BUCKLEY, Author and ZOHER ABDOOLCARIM, Asia Editor, TIME International
Drinks Reception at 6.30pm
Dialogue at 7pm
Close at 8pm

The Himalayan snowcaps are in meltdown mode due to climate change, accelerated by a rain of black soot from the massive burning of coal and other fuels in both China and India. The mighty rivers of Tibet are being dammed by Chinese engineering consortiums to feed the mainland’s thirst for power while the land is being relentlessly mined in search of minerals to feed China’s industrial complex. On the drawing board are plans for a massive engineering project to divert water from Eastern Tibet to water-starved Northern China. Tibet and the nations downstream rely heavily on rivers sourced in Tibet for water supply, and for rich silt used in agriculture. Michael Buckley, author of “Meltdown in Tibet” will be joined by Zoher Abdoolcarim, Asia Editor of TIME International to discuss the darker side of China's emergence as a global super power.

Michael Buckley is a Canadian travel writer, documentary filmmaker and environmentalist, specializing in the Himalayan and Southeast Asian regions. He co-authored Lonely Planet’s guidebook to Tibet in 1986, the first ever guidebook on the region. Mr Buckley is also the author of a number of books on Tibet including “Eccentric Explorers”, “Heartlands: Travels in the Tibetan World” and “Shangri-La: A Travel Guide to the Himalayan Dream”. He is also a filmmaker of several short documentaries about environmental issues in Tibet including megadams, the vanishing grasslands and disappearing nomad culture and mining. He divides his time between Asia and Vancouver.

Zoher Abdoolcarim was appointed Asia Editor for TIME International in 2008, and writes commentary on Asian affairs for TIME. Prior to this role, he was a senior editor at TIME Asia, where he helped shape all aspects of TIME’s coverage of Asia. Mr Abdoolcarim was previously Managing Editor of Asiaweek and Editor at Singapore-owned Asian Business. Over the course of his career, Mr Abdoolcarim has been a foreign correspondent based in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, with reporting assignments in the Philippines, India, Brunei and Hong Kong. An ethnic Indian born and raised in Hong Kong, Mr Abdoolcarim graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
 

Event recap is now available: What is the Future of Tibet?