UN biodiversity Summit

  • IASbaba
  • October 15, 2021
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UN biodiversity Summit

Part of: Prelims and GS II – International Relations and GS-III – Biodiversity

Context A key UN summit tasked with protecting biodiversity opened in China online, as countries meet to protect ecosystems and prevent mass extinction weeks before the COP26 climate conference.

Key takeaways 

  • Beijing is the world’s biggest polluter.
  • It has sought to position itself in recent years as a world leader on environmental issues.
  • The online summit shall hold a face-to-face meeting in April 2022.
  • It will see parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) discuss new targets for protecting ecosystems by 2030.
  • It shall also debate on the “30 by 30” plan to give 30% of land and oceans protected status by 2030 
    • It is a measure supported by a broad coalition of nations, as well as a goal to halve the use of chemicals in agriculture and stop creating plastic waste.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

  • It is known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. 
  • The convention has three main goals: 
    • the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity);
    • the sustainable use of its components; 
    • and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources. 
  • Objective: To develop national strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.
  • It is often seen as the key document regarding sustainable development.
  • The convention was opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993. 
  • It has two supplementary agreements, the Cartagena Protocol and Nagoya Protocol.

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