Ministerial Roundtable Dialogue on Biodiversity held on September 24, 2020

 Ministerial Roundtable Dialogue on Biodiversity held on September 24,2020

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The Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change represented India at the Ministerial Roundtable Dialogue on Biodiversity that was hosted by China on September 24, 2020 virtually.

Contents

·         Key Facts

·         India’s Statement

·         International Treaties on Biodiversity

Key Facts

·         The dialogue was conducted on the topic of Biodiversity Beyond 2020: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth.

·         The dialogue was held a week ahead of the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity.

·         More than 15 ministers from different countries participated in the virtual dialogue.

India’s Statement

The Minster said:

1. India is playing a leadership role in conservation of biodiversity by hosting conference of parties (COP). For instance, India hosted the United Nations convention to Combat Desertification COP in September 2019 and Conservation of Migratory Species COP in February 2020.

2. The 15th conference of parties to the convention on Biological Diversity is to be held at Kunming, China in 2021. It will adopt post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

3. India has the largest wild tiger population. The tiger population in India has doubled in the last 11 years.

4. India accounts to 8% of recorded species in the world despite having lesser land area.

5. India’s forest cover now stands at 25%

6. India also set target to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land and to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030.

7.  Minister said, India has set up 250,000 Biodiversity Management Committee across the country in order to access the benefits of Convention on Biological Diversity.

International Treaties on Biodiversity

1. Convention on Biological Diversity–  It is also known as the Biodiversity Convention. It is a multilateral treaty which has three goals- To conserve the biological diversity; Sustainable use of its components; and Fair and equitable share of benefits arising from genetic resources.

2. United Nations Summit on Biodiversity– It is observed on September 30. The 2020 version of the summit would be held under the Theme: Urgent Action on biodiversity for Sustainable Development.