Why in news?
The first-ever UN Summit on Biodiversity was convened in New York.
What happened in the Summit?
- The theme of the Summit is “Urgent action on biodiversity for sustainable development.”
- The member-nations of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) took note of the link between biodiversity loss and the spread of animal pathogens.
- They called for an end to destructive industrial and commercial practices.
- There is consensus that conservation targets set a decade ago in Aichi, Japan, to be achieved by 2020, have spectacularly failed.
What are the targets that weren’t achieved?
- Evidence is presented by the latest UN Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 report: none of the 20 targets has been fully met.
- Many countries have ignored the connection between biodiversity and well-being.
- They have depleted ecological capital in pursuit of financial prosperity.
- Among the Aichi targets that fell by the wayside are those on,
- Reform or phasing out of subsidies that erode biodiversity,
- Steps for resource use within safe ecological limits,
- Preventing industrial fisheries from destroying threatened species and vulnerable ecosystems, and
- An end to pollution, including growing plastic waste.
- A bright spot is the partial progress made on protecting surface and subsurface water, inland, coastal and marine areas.
What does WWF index reveal?
- The losses appear even starker from WWF’s Living Planet Index.
- The index points to precipitous declines in vertebrate populations, a key indicator, by 68% over 1970 levels.
- There is a fast-erosion of the ecosystem health.
- The 196 CBD member-countries must chart a greener course, aligning it with the Paris Agreement.
What was India’s message?
- At the summit, India’s message was one of pride in an ancient conservation tradition, as one of the few mega diverse countries.
- India’s message recognised the value of nature as much as the destructive impact of unregulated resources exploitation.
What is the concern?
- National laws of the 1970s and 1980s have shielded islands of biodiversity, particularly in about 5% of India’s land designated as protected areas.
- But they are now seen as irritants to speedy extraction of natural resources.
- In this hurry, due process is sought to be dispensed with, as envisaged by the new EIA norms proposed by the NDA government.
- There is little concern for indigenous communities that have fostered biodiversity.
- No effort to make these communities strong partners in improving the health of forests and buffer zones.
What could be done?
- Now that CBD members are set to draw up fresh conservation targets to be finalised next year, India too has an opportunity.
- India could plan a trajectory of green growth after Covid-19.
- This plan should be around clean energy, ecological agriculture, a freeze on expansion of mining and dam-building, resource recovery from waste, and regeneration of arid lands.
- It should join the coalition of the enlightened.
Source: The Hindu
Quick Fact
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
- The CBD entered into force in December 1993.
- Its three main objectives are:
- the conservation of biological diversity,
- the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity,
- the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
