INDIA GREENS PARTY
(India Greens Party is registered with the Election Commission of India under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Registration Number: 56/476/2018-19/PPS-I, effective from 18/07/2019.)
National Head Office: GreenDham AnandiChait, IndraBalbhadra Parisar, Unchir-Dunktok, SH-31, PO-Ghurdauri, Distt-Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, INDIA. PIN-246194.
Email: contact@indiagreensparty.org Website: https://indiagreensparty.org
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iGP PETITION
8 August 2024
To
Shri Bhupender Yadav
Hon’ble Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change
Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Jorbagh Road, New Delhi – 110 003. India.
Subject: CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY TARGETS 2024.
Hon’ble Sir,
Greetings from the India Greens Party!
We write today as our government is a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
The 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will meet in Colombia from 21 October till 1 November 2024. It is the first CBD since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Protocol and will include a high-level ministerial segment. At this meeting, India needs to determine its national targets in line with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework 2022.
We are aware that the National Biodiversity Mission has involved a comprehensive documentation of India’s biodiversity with the potential for cataloguing and mapping all life forms in India including associated cultural and traditional practices; assessment of the distribution and conservation status of India’s biodiversity; development of a cadre of professionals adept at handling large sets of environmental data for management and monitoring of biodiversity; expansion of knowledge in ecosystem functioning that will inform restoration efforts; establishment of a vibrant biodiversity based economy on a solid foundation of reliable information; engagement with the public; enhanced options for agricultural production and livelihood; security and general wellbeing of society.
Also, we are aware that post-adoption of the Kumning-Montreal Protocol in the COP 15 meeting in 2022, the Government of India had formed a Committee in July 2023 to recommend the updated NBSAPs. This Committee met three times and completed a report which they were expected to send to the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change of India (MoEFCC) which will consider and share the revised document with the public in due course.
The India Greens Party wishes to know what the Government of India has done to protect and conserve the currently remaining “biodiverse regions” of India like Himalaya, Northeast part of the country, Hasdeo, Buxwaha, Lakshadweep, Nicobar, the Western Ghats, Aravallis, etc, and what is the plan to connect them with conservation zones in order to effectively manage the gene pool and quality of biodiversity?
It is worrisome that the Indian biodiversity is getting trapped in fragmented, deforested and polluted patches of forests and there is no plan to connect the remaining forests thereby effectively trapping them and weakening the gene pool of remaining wildlife. To make matters worse, the Government of India has started giving approvals and changed environment laws to construct “zoos” in forests calling them forestry activities.
All the biodiverse marine areas of India are threatened by the “Sagarmalla port projects” for example Dahanu and Nicobar to name a recent few. The coastline of India is already threatened due to CRZ dilutions, dams on rivers, lack of protection to coastal wetlands and water pollution.
These are the central issues which we wish to bring to your kind notice considering all the remaining biodiverse regions mentioned above are under attack by governments themselves for the benefit of corporate profits.
We also wish to inquire about the national targets for the upcoming Biodiversity Convention (CBD) as India is an important country in these negotiations.
Sir, for the first time, Parties to the Convention will need to show their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans with national targets. The COP 16 is also expected to develop the monitoring framework and advance resource mobilisation for the Global Framework and finalise the mechanism (and its implementation) for sharing these genetic resources. Therefore, the COP 16 will be the most critical meeting. Like other national governments, India is meant to set aside 30% of land area and 30% ocean/ waterways for protection since the country is a signatory to the CBD (https://www.cbd.int/information/parties.shtml).
Just to remind that a global target to protect 30% of the planet for nature by 2030 (known as ’30×30′) is included in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and was agreed to by India at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at COP15. The 30×30 goal aims for at least 30% of land and sea areas —especially those crucial for biodiversity — to be effectively, equitably managed, and ecologically represented through “well-connected conservation systems”.
We set out below what these goals are, some of the key targets the CBD agreement has set. These goals include:
- The India Greens Party is particularly interested to know the data the Government of India will be taking to the CBD COP16.
- Ensure 30% of the country’s land and marine area as protected areas by 2030, and name the areas which the government is aiming to protect nationally and what is the time frame for implementation?
- The India Greens Party feels this to be a minimum requirement and advocates for the aim of reaching 50%. We recognise in areas of high biodiversity value such as Western Ghats and Himalaya the need is higher.
- Increase the regrowth of natural ecosystems by up to 30%, especially in biodiversity hotspots by 2050.
- Which are the areas of key biological diversity the government has identified? Legislate for protection and legal recourse.
- What legal mechanism will be implemented to increase enforcement efforts to prevent incursions into protected land, waterways, and oceans?
- What measures will be put into place to halt the spread and mitigate the impact of invasive species as a key driver in species extinction?
- What funding measures will be put in place nationally to safeguard the above?
- Which international funding mechanisms will the government be drawing on, if any, to support the measures listed above?
The India Greens Party calls on our government to meet and exceed these goals at the COP16 in step with the true urgency of the biodiversity crisis with concrete national implementation plans.
We look forward to your reply to the above questions well in advance of the determination of national figures to be put forward at COP16 of the CBD. In brief, we solicit a response to the points we have raised above.
With Green wishes,
(Suresh Nautiyal)
Chief Spokesperson, India Greens Party.
Website: www.indiagreensparty.org
Mobile phone: +91-8860072030.
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