Capturing currents

  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.    ...

By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation Cali, Colombia 20.10.24. The 16 th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity was declared open today in Cali, Colombia this evening. Sombre, yet significant the delegates are determined to make a difference or achieve the colossal, yet ambitious targets that are so complex by 2030. That explains why COP 16 is of such critical value. COP 16 The Targets are not as simple as planting so many million trees even if land were to be made available. Benefit sharing mechanisms have to be legalised through a complex web of legislation encompassing many spheres of Human activity: 1.        G ender sensitive land rights, 2.        G ender sensitive food security and livelihood security and 3.        B iodiverse confirmative agro diversity, 4.        Climate Change Adaptation, 5.     ...

  By Malini Shankar, Digital Discourse Foundation India’s progress with regard to Targets of the Kunming Montreal Biodiversity Targets cannot yet be said to be completed. However India scores big in increasing the Protected Areas Network thereby making marked progress in stymieing Biodiversity Loss. The increase in number of tiger reserves from 28 in 2007 to 54 in 2024 marks a well-marked stride in lending legal protection to tiger terrain where the faunal spectrum of the Royal Bengal Tiger’s food chain and gene pool are protected. But there is a yawning gap in making these tiger reserves inviolate of the human footprint. Barring Bhadra Tiger Reserve in Karnataka none of the tiger reserves have successfully relocated the forest dwellers right across the country. Every forest dweller must be given cash or resource compensation equivalent to Rs. 10,00,000 or 11,894.88 USD to relocate outside the Protected Area. That not one single tiger reserve has achieved this apart from...

 Malini Shankar Cali, Colombia. Digital Discourse Foundation C. Achalendra Reddy, chairperson of India’s National Biodiversity Authority and Chairman of the UN’s Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI 5) inaugurated the Subsidiary Body on Implementation in UNCBD’s Conference of Parties 16 venue in Cali Columbia today. SBI 5 is meant to focus on implementing the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. Reddy dwelt on Biodiversity targets. Stake-holder involvement, NGOs, Government agencies are critical he said. Inter-agency coordination with multiple government departments is critical for ex-situ conservation of medicinal plants in the wild. This will help multiple stakeholders including indigenous people, civil society participants, NGOs, and so many others. Earlier at a Press Conference he said “The digital programme targets for (National Biodiversity Stratigic Action Plans) - NBSAPs is most challenging”. Dwelling on the significance of medicinal plants Reddy ...

Considering everything from regulated whaling to Sustainable Development to soil conservation to benefit sharing mechanism to indigenous peoples’ rights to Climate Change Adaptation, Human Wildlife Conflict Mitigation and more … all within the paradigms of Equitable growth, CITES, Human Rights, gender equality, Climate resilience, poverty eradication, gender sensitive land rights, are on the table at the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity in Cali Colombia, it certainly does not hurt to lend sharper focus to the Convention. The effort has been to focus sharply on SDGs 14, 15 and 17 for sure, but their corresponding targets and goals in themselves are a wide horizon. But what cannot be ignored is that if Humanity ignores Biodiversity Conservation Desertification will expand, threatening lives, livelihoods, food security and it will lead to irreversible damage to Planet Earth which is home to endangered fauna… whose habitat has been wantonly destroyed by adamant Humanity refusing...

  By Malini Shankar Digital Discourse Foundation Making Peace with Nature is one of the lofty goals of the currently underway United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of Parties 16 in Cali Columbia. To make this a reality COP 16 is aiming at realising the goals envisioned in SDGs (in SDG 14, 15 and 17, to be precise) which is Life Under Water, Life on Land and Partnerships for the Goals respectively. Making peace with Nature encompasses a whole gamut of issues…combatting biopiracy to veganism / vegetarianism… to fair trade, benefit sharing of genetic resources to protection and promotion of traditional wisdom and benefit sharing mechanisms. Biosafety protocols, decreasing harmful subsidies on fertilisers and toxic agricultural practices are just some of the  issues on the table in Cali. Habitat protection for marine wildlife, regulated whaling, (huh?) cleansing the oceans of human generated debris, (SDG 14) to mitigation of human wildlife conflict...