Recently, at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF) was adopted.
- GBF includes 4 goals and 23 targets for achievement by 2030.
- The U.N. biodiversity conference concluded in Canada’s Montreal.
- The first part of COP 15 took place in Kunming, China and reinforced the commitment to address the biodiversity crisis and the Kunming Declaration was adopted by over 100 countries.
CBD: was an outcome of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, along with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). CBD is a legally binding framework.
- In total, 196 countries, including India, have ratified the CBD and are, parties to the COP.
The US is a notable outlier as the only UN member state not to have ratified the treaty although it still has a presence at biodiversity COPs.
- The CBD has given rise to two supplementary agreements: The Cartagena Protocol of 2003, The Nagoya Protocol of 2014
Need for a biodiversity framework:
- Estimates based on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species tell us that 1 million species are currently threatened with extinction.
- Healthy ecosystems support 55% of global GDP, and the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity underpins sustainable development.
- Healthy ecosystems protect communities from climate change impacts and nature-based solutions could provide up to 37% of our climate change mitigation needs as per the Paris Agreement.
- An ambitious new framework is therefore needed to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the vision of living in harmony with nature by 2050.
Key Targets of the GBF:
Key takeaways from the COP15 biodiversity summit:
- 30×30 target – Delegates committed to protect 30% of land and 30% of coastal and marine areas by 2030
- Money for nature – Signatories aim to ensure 200 billion per year is channeled to conservation initiatives, from public and private sources.
- Wealthier countries should contribute at least 20 billion dollars of this every year by 2025, and at least 30 billion dollars a year by 2030.
Reporting the impacts on biodiversity – Companies should analyse and report how their operations affect and are affected by biodiversity issues.
- Harmful subsidies – Countries committed to identify subsidies that deplete biodiversity by 2025, and then eliminate, phase out or reform them. They agreed to slash those incentives by at least 500 billion dollars a year by 2030.
- Pollution and pesticides – It aims to reduce the risks associated with pesticides by at least half, and focus on other forms of pest management.
- Monitoring and reporting progress – National action plans will be set and reviewed, following a similar format used for greenhouse gas emissions under U.N.-led efforts to curb climate change.
What are the concerns?
- Implementation – A major issue is realization of targets contained within the framework because lack of implementation was the major factors behind the failure of the Aichi targets.
- Finance – Democratic Republic of Congo staunchly opposed the package, regarding the issues over financing.
- New fund – Demands from the global South for a new fund were only partially fulfilled, as it proposed to create the fund within the Global Environment Facility, the UN’s existing biodiversity financing fund.
- Eliminating harmful subsidies – India’s demand against a numerical target to eliminate harmful subsidies has been partially addressed.
- Cutting pollution – India was against a numerical goal of cutting pollution to zero.
INDIA’S ROLE:
- India called for an urgent need to create a new and dedicated fund to help developing countries successfully implement a post-2020 global framework to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
- So far, the Global Environment Facility which caters to multiple conventions, including the UNFCCC and UN Convention to Combat Desertification, remains the only source of funding for biodiversity conservation.
- India also said that conservation of biodiversity must also be based on ‘Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities’ (CBDR) as climate change also impacts nature.
- The concept of Life style for environment was recognized for achieving the goals of biodiversity conservation.
- India was of the view that GBF should focus on an ecosystem-based approach rather than nature-based solutions.
