TOPIC: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment (CBD)
- It was the brainchild of UNEP.
- It is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
- It has three objectives:
- Access and benefit sharing i.e. fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
- Conservation of Biodiversity.
- Sustainable use of biodiversity.
- The parties to CBD meet at regular intervals and their meetings are called conference of Parties (CoP).
- USA is not a party to the CBD while India is a party.
- Various protocols and targets have been agreed to achieve the objectives of CBD.
- Carategena Protocol on Biosafety:
- (CoP-4)- It is an international treaty which governs the movements of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs), resulting from modern biotechnology, from one country to another. The protocol applies to the trans-boundary movement, transit, handling and use of all LMOs that may have adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, taking the risks to human health also into consideration.
- It was adopted in 2000 as a supplementary agreement to the CBD and entered into force in 2003.
2. Aichi Targets
- It consists of 20 ambitious yet achievable targets.
- In CoP-10 , all the parties agreed that the previous targets for protection of biodiversity have not been fully achieved. So, there was a need to frame new plans and targets. They framed two plans: a mid/long term plan to be achieved by 2050 and a short term plan to be achieved by 2020.
- The short term plan is officially known as the ” Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020″. It is a 10- year framework for action by all countries to save biodiversity. It is this short term plan which provides for the Aichi Targets.
3. Nagoya Protocol
- CoP-10 which was held in 2010 also gave birth to the Nagoya Protocol.
- It pertains to access and benefit sharing i.e. fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
- It came into force in 2014.
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Contents
- CoP-11 was held in Hyderabad, India in the year 2012.
- African countries like Namibia demanded developed countries to stand by their promised fund allocation for saving the biodiversity, made in the 2010 protocol.
- The developed nations stood by their demand of creating a baseline of the investments made by now and how much more was needed.
- Developed countries agreed to double the fund to support efforts in developing countries towards meeting the internationally agreed Biodiversity Targets and the main goals of the Aichi Targets.
- It was agreed in Hyderabad that the Saragasso Sea, the Tonga archipelago and key coral sites off the coast of Brazil are among a range of marine areas to receive special attention by governments as part of renewed efforts to sustainably manage the world’s oceans.
- Conclusion of CoP-11: It failed to reach to a concrete decision of making fund arrangements and resource mobilization. India allocated a fund of $50 million for strengthening the mechanism for preserving the biodiversity in India and other developing nations.
- CoP-12 of CBD took place in Pyeongchang, South Korea in the year 2012. Its theme was ” Biodiversity for Sustainable Development”
- CoP-13 will take place in Cancun, Mexico in December 2016.
Other biodiversity (conservation and sustainable use) conventions that existed even before CBD.
- CITES (1973)
- Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS-1979). It is also known as Bonn Convention.
- Convention on Wetlands of international Importance. It is also known as Ramsar Convention, 1971.
- World Heritage Convention, UNESCO, 1972 for granting heritage status to world sites.
- Man and Biosphere, UNESCO, 1971 for ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Its major achievement was the creation of World Network of Biosphere reserves in 1977.
Read More: Earth Summit, 1992
