The Kingdom of Bhutan has one of the best carbon footprints in the world. The country relies on hydropower to generate energy – and wants to plant millions of trees for an even better climate balance.
The mountain river Puna Tsang Chu flows near the city of Punakha in western Bhutan. There is a hydroelectric power plant on the shore, which generates so much energy every day that almost half a million private households can be supplied with electricity. Kencho Gyeltshen is responsible for this. Dressed in a traditional Bhutanese robe, the manager explains why the small state in the Himalayas relies primarily on hydropower.
“The energy comes from our rivers,” says Gyeltshen. “It therefore makes sense for Bhutan to use exactly this energy. Convert it in such a way that it both benefits the population and helps to further develop the industry.” Gyeltshen attaches great importance to the fact that the electricity not only comes from renewable energies, but also that the project does not cause any lasting damage to the environment.
Houses on a hillside in Bhutan
Bhutan feels left alone
The water is fed into the power plant through underground tunnel systems. “We don’t destroy anything on the surface with this,” says Gyeltshen. “Because in everything we do in Bhutan, our priority is not to harm nature.” Protecting nature is a goal stated in the constitution. The result: Bhutan has one of the best CO2 balances in the world.
Which also has to do with the fact that next to a huge forest area there is only a small industrial landscape. The country binds more carbon dioxide than it emits. Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji, however, feels left alone by larger nations. “Every year, many countries make umpteen promises about what they want to do about climate change,” says Dorji. “But in practice, almost nothing happens.”
A million trees are to be planted
In his opinion, this is mainly because the immediate effects are not yet being seen everywhere in the world. Here in Bhutan it is. The glaciers are melting, snow only falls at higher altitudes, extreme natural events are on the increase. “Here, too, people would like to build factories that would naturally emit CO2,” Dorji laments. “But we are facing up to reality – and we can only hope that the industrialized nations will realize that things cannot go on like this.”
His wish would be that more countries would follow the example of Bhutan and its climate projects. Like the “One Million Tree Project”. More than a million trees are to be planted in the country over the next three years. But the project, which aims to further reduce the country’s carbon footprint, is also struggling with the effects of climate change.
Climate change is having a major impact on Bhutan
This year they had to postpone the planting of many trees. “Due to the lack of rain, the ground was just too dry,” explains Ugyen, who coordinates the project. “The lack of water also meant that many farmers’ harvests were ruined.” Most of the people in Bhutan live from agriculture. A crop failure presents them with existential worries.
Although the ground is still dry, Ugyen and his team don’t want to lose any more time. Despite the dusty soil, they plant as many trees as they can. Your goals are ambitious. “We want to plant more than ten million trees within the next ten years. Not only Bhutan, but the whole world benefits from each individual tree,” says Ugyen. Everyone in Bhutan knows that they cannot save the climate on their own. At the very least, they want to set a good example.