Capturing currents

  Putting people before the Planet does justice to neither By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation With the 16 th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity ending on an inconclusive note in Cali Colombia on 1 st November 2024, (essentially on grounds of fiscal inconclusivity),   news release today   says the Cali COP 16 will conclude in Rome in February 2025. In the wee hours of 2 nd November 2024 almost all delegates walked out of the venue as they had flights to board … the fiscal commitments were left askance in the air, commitments to policy and legislative measures to achieve the impossible – reduce and reverse Global Warming by 1.5 0 globally by 2030, mitigate sea level rise and natural disaster risk, eradicate hunger and poverty, secure water, food and livelihood security and mitigate biodiversity loss by re-greening the planet … all by 2030. Putting up a brave face Ms. Astrid Shomaker the Executive Secretar...

  By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation Cali, Colombia 2.11.24 Curtains are drawn close at Cali Colombia for the 16 th Conference of Parties at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. The “Parties” made a grand yet sincere attempt at putting People before the Planet – to be a democratic exercise. There are some bits of good news and some bad. There has been fiscal commitments to DSI or Digital Sequence Information, but Sandra Valenzuela of WWF said at a Press Conference on closing day that fiscal commitment is not the same thing as funding. If cop 16 does not resolve issues of funding we are sitting on a hot potato. COP 16 is all about implementation... 119 countries have submitted NBSAPs. 44 are revising. 65% have submitted NBSAPs. Except India, Iran, Russia and Argentina others have submitted national targets n NBSAPs. Resource mobilization arena nothing is agreed till everything is agreed. Global north n south have to agree ... New funds is not...

  By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation Cali, Colombia 30.10.2024 While the juggernaut rolls on towards the curtains, India today unveiled its updated National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plans at the Asia Pacific Pavilion in the 16 th Conference of Parties of the United Nations' Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) in Cali today. India’s Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Ecology, Forests and Climate Change, Kirthi Vardhan Singh presented to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Executive Director Astrid Schumacher the updated targets under National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plans. These include: 1.        Integrated Land and Sea Use Planning 2.        Ecosystem Restoration 3.        Conserve Biodiversity in all ecosystems 4.        Manages species and genetic diversity 5.      ...

By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation The financial scenario, never a full glass nevertheless has started holding promise at Cali all the same. In a pledging session over the weekend in Cali, eight governments have pledged about additional USD 163 million to the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund . These are: Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, the UK, and the government of Quebec, Canada . Leading Philanthropies commit $51.7 Million to Accelerate the Creation of Marine Protected Areas in the High Seas : Arcadia, Becht Foundation, Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Blue Action Fund, Blue Nature Alliance, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation,   Oceans 5, Paul M Angell Family Foundation, Schmidt Ocean Institute, and Vere Initiatives announced a $51.7  million pledge to accelerate the development of high-quality Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the high seas. Delegates gathered for the second and final week of  the UN Biodiversity Conferen...

  By Malini Shankar, Digital Discourse Foundation The Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP 16 conclave in Cali Colombia is still the amphitheatre for the possible. The nitty gritties are being worked out nervously by technocrats and bureaucrats before the political representatives come to sign on behalf of the sovereign governments in the coming week. Following the concept of supply and demand, an  interactive match-making event on 22 nd October brought together those needing support and those able to provide it. It was an exercise to prompt implementation of the Water Convention and thus strengthen transboundary water cooperation worldwide. With benefit sharing and market access being key points of contention, pharmaceutical companies lead the lobby to waive off 1% tax on profits. The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations, argues that the negotiations over a potential tax on companies would ‘increase costs across the board’. ...

  By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation Cali, Colombia, 21.10.24 In 2022 the Kunming Montreal Biodiversity Framework was dawn up and signed by 196 countries with the express intention of expediting the achievement of Biodiversity Targets. This includes what is referred to as 23 targets. These are: For India the 23 targets are listed below: 1.        All areas are planned or managed to bring loss of areas of high biodiversity importance close to zero . 2.        30% of degraded areas are under effective restoration . 3.        30% of areas are effectively conserved . 4.        Threatened species are recovering, genetic diversity is being maintained and human-wildlife conflict is being managed . 5.        Use, harvesting and trade of wild species is sustainable, safe and legal . 6.    ...