During April 1-3, the 4th Third Pole Environment (TPE) Workshop was held at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) in Dehradun, India. The workshop attracted more than 50 world-renowned scientists from 14 countries, as well as officials from international organizations and governments.

The inaugural function of the workshop was held in the afternoon of April 1, with President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson being the chief guest. In his speech, President Grímsson lauded the work of scientists from the Third Pole region and beyond and said it is “a great honor for Iceland to be a part of this evolving Himalayan cooperation". TPE co-chairs Profs. YAO Tandong and Lonnie Thompson in their speeches introduced the latest progress of the TPE program and called for further cooperation among scientists. Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences of the Government of India S. Jaipal Reddy, UNESCO representative Ram Boojh and the director of WIHG Anil K. Gupta also addressed at the function and all stressed the importance to further promote TPE research to confront the challenge of global climate change.

Scientific presentations, group and plenary discussions were held during the following two days, April 2-3. 29 scientists from different academic fields presented their latest research results in six sessions, including the " Human-Nature Relationship in the Third Pole Region", "Climate changes in the past and at present in polar region on Earth ", "Regional Efforts in TPE Study", “Ecosystem and Geology”, as well as “TPE Mass Balance Working Group report” and the TPE Precipitation Working Group report. During plenary discussions, it was agreed that the next TPE event would be an open conference, instead of a workshop, and it will allow for broader involvement of scientists and policy-makers.

For detailed information of the workshop, please visit the TPE website at http://www.tpe.ac.cn.