(GS Special) Leadership Role of India

Articles

Leadership Role of India on Biodiversity

Important for IAS mains General Studies - 2012

At times when the world was losing its faith in the multilateralism either within the United Nations system or outside, the outputs of the 10th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP-10)* on the Convention of Biological Diversity came like a breath of fresh air wherein decisions were taken on setting up of global targets for achieving the target of biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of the bioresources and equitable share of the benefits arising. (Aichi-Nagoya Global Biodiversity Targets). In this convention a new 10 year stretegic plan was agreed along with a global multilateral protocol on rules to access the genetic resources and benefits sharing (ABS) on October 29th, 2010 Nogoya, Japan.

India's Stand / Journey so far

In order to coincide with twenty years of the Rio Earth Summit (1992), India is hosting the eleventh meeting of Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) during October 2012 (8-19th October, Hyderabad - India). it is in fact a strategic plan by the Government of India to establish and

support the global environmental through biodiversity during the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity (UNDB-2011-2020).

In fact India is one of the few countries to have signed as well as ratified the CBD in 1994 soon after it came into effect on December 29th 1993. India started identifying the various ways & means to implement the provisions of the Rio Principles as well as the Conventions agreed during the meeting of UNCED. In order to deal with the three main objectives of CBD namely Conservation, Sustainable, use and the Sharing the benefits from accessing the resources, the first national consultation was started in India in 1992 itself with the conclusion of establishment of a national level framework. And with this started a journey for our policy makers that culminated in 2002 when the Biological Diversity Act* was passed in the Indian Parliament. This Act provides a combination of roles for the concerned authorities to ensure conservation and related issues which are otherwise difficult to manage by only invoking regulatory provisions. With more than 32000 Biodiversity Management Committees and over 26 state Biodiversity Boards, India is definitely leading the globe on issues involved in the implementation of the convention.

Significance of CBD : COP-11

It will undertake the reviews of programmes of work under the convention ranging from agricultural biodiversity to island biodiversity, mountain biodiversity, island and coastal biodiversity, forest and water biodiversity, biodiversity of dry and sub-humid lands etc. It will also focus on issues such as protected areas, taxonomic capacities, technology transfer, education and public awareness, sustainable use, biofuels etc.

In a a nutshell, COP - 11 will attract a wide range of global, regional and national experts & organisations to discuss the status and trend of work & share their experiences.

Conclusion on India's Role

As the president of the COP11, India is expected to lead key global issues on biodiversity between 2012-2014 which is of extreme importance considering the proximity of culmination of the global Millennium Development goals in 2015. With its experience in the implementation of the Biological Diversity Act, inclusive & appropriate decision-making, countries will be looking towards India for its leadership, commitment, support, experience and expertise.

Important Terms

WHAT IS THE UNFCCC & THE COP?

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC) is an international environmental treaty that was produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development(UNCED) (informally known as the Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro, June, 1992. The treaty is aimed at stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system – commonly believed to be around 2°C above the pre-industrial global average temperature.

The treaty as originally framed set no mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual nations and contained no enforcement provisions; it is therefore considered legally non-binding. Rather, the treaty included provisions for updates (called “protocols”) that would set mandatory emission limits. The principal update is the Kyoto Protocol, which has become much better known than the UNFCCC itself. One of its first achievements was to establish a national greenhouse gas inventory, as a count of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. Accounts must be regularly submitted by signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The UNFCCC was opened for signature on May 9, 1992 after an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee produced the text of the Framework Convention as a report following its meeting in New York. It entered into force in March, 1994. Countries who sign up to the UNFCCC are known and as ‘Parties’, there are currently 192 signed up Parties. Since the UNFCCC entered into force, the parties have been meeting annually in Conferences of the Parties (COP) to assess progress in dealing with climate change, and beginning in the mid-1990s, to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol to establish legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The UNFCCC is also the name of the United Nations Secretariat charged with supporting the operation of the Convention. Since 2006 the head of the secretariat has been Yvo de Boer. A key element of the UNFCCC is that parties should act to protect the climate system “on the basis of equality and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and
respective capabilities.” The principle of 'common but differentiated responsibility' includes two fundamental elements. The first is the common responsibility of Parties to protect the environment, or parts of it, at the national, regional and global levels. The second is the need to take into account the different circumstances, particularly each Party’s contribution to the problem and its ability to prevent, reduce and control the threat. Another element underpinning the UNFCCC is the polluter pays principle. This means that the party responsible for producing pollution is responsible for paying for the damage done to the natural environment.

Importance from examination point of view:

Various conventions, Protocols, Rio⁺20 related to global climate change & ecology & biodiversity.
Short Notes - COP, UNFCCC, Various Conventions
India's Stand, Achievement, Importance.

Back to All Articles