Organisations and Conventions

EnviStats – India 2020 has been released by the National Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation.
The report contains statistical information about the condition of the environment – climate, water and wetlands, geology and geography, soil and land, forests and biodiversity, and air and water quality. It also provides data about the availability and use of minerals, energy, land, crops, livestock and water as well as air and water pollution and solid waste management.

The third edition of the report, ‘Elephants. Not commodities’, was released on World Elephant Day (12 Aug) by World Animal Protection, an international non-profit animal welfare organization. It compares research spanning a decade into elephant tourism, assessing venues across Thailand, India, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.
According to the report, India is home to the second highest number, after Thailand, of elephants used in tourism in Asia, and of the 21 venues housing 509 elephants, the report found 45% (225) of the elephants were kept in severely inadequate conditions.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)–Transport Initiative for Asia (TIA) Project description:
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)
Financier: International Climate Initiative (IKI)
Countries: Regional Programme with country components in China, India and Vietnam as well as a regional/global component.
Lead executing agency: China: Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Department of Atmospheric Environment, India: National Institute for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), Vietnam: Ministry of Transport, Department for Environment
Overall term: 2019 to 2024
The programme will be jointly implemented by GIZ, the World Resources Institute (WRI), the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), the International Transport Forum (ITF), Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLOCAT), Agora Verkehrswende and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21).
The India Component is be implemented by six consortium organizations, all except SLoCaT, it has been launched recently by NITI Aayog.
Statement 2 is correct. In each of the partner countries, the consortium supports the design and information of stakeholder processes and the development of selected climate protection measures.
Its objective is to decarbonise transport through long-term, multi-stakeholder, integrated sectoral strategies in Countries in Asia.

The Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund is a $150 million multi-donor trust fund (2013-2021) administered by Asian Development Bank under the Urban Financing Partnership Facility.
• It aims to support fast-growing cities in Asia to reduce the risks poor and vulnerable people face from floods, storms or droughts, by helping to better plan and design infrastructure to invest against these impacts.

•Recently grant of $5 million from the multi-donor Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF) will be provided to build climate change resilient infrastructure in Visakhapatnam.

The World Bank has operationalised a Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative (SRMI) with $333 million for 22 African countries.
• The idea was incubated as the Common Risk Mitigation Mechanism by the International Solar Alliance.
• Essentially, the scheme reduces the cost of capital through credit enhancement mechanisms.
• SRMI has given a big push to solar projects in countries like Maldives to start with.
• SRMI is trying to enhance the mechanism both vertically and horizontally.
• Many island countries now want to be covered under the SRMI.
• This unique approach offers technical assistance to help countries develop evidence-based solar targets, implement a sustainable solar program, and maintain robust procurement processes with transaction advisors.

BASIC group.
Statement 1 is incorrect: The BASIC group was formed as the result of an agreement signed by the four countries on November 28, 2009. They are a bloc of four large newly industrialized countries – Brazil, South Africa, India and China.
Statement 2 is incorrect: The main objective of the BASIC group is to have a broadly common position on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and raising the massive funds
that are needed to fight climate change.

Statement 1 is correct. The Convention on Biological Diversity is an
international treaty agreed to at the UN Earth Summit in Brazil in 1992.
It has three goals: the conservation of biological diversity; the sustainable use of nature;
and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic science.
Statement 2 is correct. Under the CBD, countries in 2010 agreed to the Aichi Biodiversity
Targets – a group of 20 goals to conserve biodiversity that range from preserving species, to
reducing deforestation by 2020.
Countries had until 2020 to reach the targets, and then move on to create a post-2020
global biodiversity framework. But despite some progress, the targets – which range from
stopping species from extinction to cutting pollution and preserving forests – were not
achieved.

The Aichi Biodiversity targets were included in the Strategic Plan for
Biodiversity for the 2011-2020 period adopted by the 10th meeting of the Conference of the
Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity includes 20 time-bound, measurable targets to be met
by the year 2020 (Aichi Biodiversity Targets). These targets are classified into five strategic
goals:
Strategic Goal A: Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming
biodiversity across government and society
Strategic Goal B: Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use
Strategic Goal C: To improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species
and genetic diversity
Strategic Goal D: Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services
Strategic Goal E: Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge
management and capacity building.

Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO) is the flagship publication of the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
It is a periodic report that summarizes the latest data on the status and trends of
biodiversity and draws conclusions relevant to the further implementation of the
Convention.
GBO-5 released recently provides global summary of progress towards the Aichi
Biodiversity Targets and is based on a range of indicators, research studies and
assessments (in particular the IPBES Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services), as well as the national reports provided by countries on their implementation of
the CBD.
# The fifth edition of Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-5) is the final report card on progress
against the 20 global biodiversity targets agreed in 2010 with a 2020 deadline, and offers
lessons learned and best practices for getting on track.
# None of the 20 ‘Aichi Biodiversity Targets’ agreed on by national governments through the
United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have been fully met.

Statement 1 is correct. India had ratified the Stockholm Convention on January 13, 2006 as per Article 25(4), which enabled it to keep itself in a default “opt-out” position such that amendments in various Annexes of the convention cannot be enforced on it unless an instrument of ratification/ acceptance/ approval or accession is explicitly deposited with UN depositary.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The Union Cabinet recently delegated its powers to ratify chemicals under the Stockholm Convention to Union Ministers of External Affairs (MEA) and Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MEFCC) in respect of POPs already regulated under the domestic regulations thereby streamlining the procedure.

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has recently released the report
titled State of Climate Services 2020 Report: Move from Early Warnings to Early
Action.
As per the report, globally over the past 50 years, some 11,000 disasters, attributed to
weather, climate and water-related hazards, claimed over 2 million lives and cost the world
economy $3.6 trillion.
It also mentions that after Cyclone Pawan made landfall in early December 2019, flooding in
the Horn of Africa created highly favorable breeding conditions for the desert locust. The
region is facing the worst desert locust crisis in over 25 years, and the most serious in 70
years for Kenya. Desert locust swarms are also moving across India, Pakistan and the
Islamic Republic of Iran.
This report highlights progress made in early warning systems (EWS) capacity – and
identifies where and how governments can invest in effective EWS to strengthen countries’
resilience to multiple weather, water and climate-related hazards.

Foundation for Environmental Education, Denmark, Blue Flag is an iconic voluntary award for beaches, marinas and sustainable boating tourism operators which is awarded to those that meet and maintain the criterias of a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety and accessibility.

Eight of India’s beaches: Shivrajpur (Dwarka Gujarat), Ghoghla (Diu), Kasarkod and
Padubidri (Karnataka), Kappad (Kerala), Rushikonda (AP), Golden Beach (Odisha) and
Radhanagar (A&N Islands) have been awarded with the eco-label.

Option 1 is incorrect. India is neither a party nor a range country of African
Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement.

The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) is an intergovernmental treaty dedicated to the conservation of migratory waterbirds and their habitats across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, Greenland and the Canadian Archipelago.

Developed under the framework of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), AEWA brings together countries and the wider international conservation community in an effort to establish coordinated conservation and management of migratory waterbirds throughout their entire migratory range.

Option 2 is correct. India is party to the Convention on Migratory Species. As an environmental treaty of the United Nations, CMS provides a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals and their habitats. Migratory species threatened with extinction are listed on Appendix I of the Convention.

# World Migratory Bird Day was celebrated by people across the world on Saturday, 10 October with the theme “Birds Connect Our World”.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The State of Global Air is collaboration between the
Health Effects Institute and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global
Burden of Disease project

Statement 2 is correct. As per the report, Global levels of ozone exposure have been slowly but steadily increasing over the past decade. On average, global exposure to ozone increased from about 47.3 ppb in 2010 to 49.5 ppb in 2019.

Countries in South Asia saw the steepest increase, while some countries in the High- Income, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and East Asia Regions experienced modest declines.

India, for example, experienced an increase of about 17% — from 56.5 ppb (95% UI: 56.3 to 56.6) in 2010 to 66.2 ppb (95% UI: 66.0 to 66.3) in 2019.

# India had third highest ozone exposures globally in 2019 after Qatar and Nepal.

The UN Environment Programme’s Champions of the Earth award is the UN’s highest environmental honor that recognizes outstanding leaders from government, civil society and the private sector whose actions have a transformative impact on the environment.
Since 2005, Champions of the Earth has recognized 93 laureates, ranging from world leaders to technology inventors. They include 22 world leaders, 57 individuals and 14 groups or organizations.
# The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) recently named seven young scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and activists from across the globe as its 2020 Young Champions of the Earth.
# The Young Champions of the Earth prize is awarded every year to seven entrepreneurs under the age of 30 with bold ideas for sustainable environmental change.

Environmental Performance Index.
Statement 1 is correct: The Environmental Performance Index is a joint project of
the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy and The Center for International
Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University’s Earth Institute.
The EPI is produced in collaboration with the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Statement 2 is correct: The EPI is released biennially in even-numbered years.

Canberra Convention.
•The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources is
an international treaty that was adopted at the Conference on the
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources which met at Canberra,
Australia, 7–20 May 1980.
•It is a multilateral response to concerns that unregulated increases in krill catches
in the Southern Ocean could be detrimental for Antarctic marine ecosystems
particularly for seabirds, seals, whales and fish that depend on krill for food.

India, with the help of Bangladesh and Nepal, is engaged in a tough battle at
the forum for international trade for endangered species to de-list ‘Dalbergia sisoo’,
commonly known as rosewood or sheesham, from the list of threatened varieties in order
to protect the livelihood of handicraft manufacturers and farmers in the Sub-continent.
•The Ministry has submitted a proposal to CITES based on Non Detrimental Finding
(NDF) study carried out by Botanical Survey of India, which shows that Dalbergia
sissoo does not fall into any threatened category and is available in abundance both
in wild and cultivated populations.
•Moreover, the species grows at a very fast rate and has the capacity to become
naturalized outside its native range.

Shannon-Wiener index of diversity (information index) a measure derived
from information theories developed by Claude E. Shannon and Norbert Wiener and
published in 1949 by Shannon and Warren Weaver, which is used by ecologists when a
system contains too many individuals for each to be identified and examined

The United Nations Environment Assembly is the world’s highest-level
decision-making body on the environment, with a universal membership of all 193
Member States.
•The Assembly meets biennially in Nairobi, Kenya, to set priorities for global
environmental policies and develop international environmental law.
•Through its ministerial declaration and resolutions, the Assembly provides
leadership, catalyzes intergovernmental action on the environment, and contributes
to the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
•The UN Environment Assembly is also the governing body of the UN Environment
Programme.

Earth First! was named in 1979 in response to a lethargic, compromising,

and increasingly corporate environmental community.

• Earth First! takes a decidedly different tracks towards environmental issues. We

believe in using all the tools in the tool box, ranging from grassroots organizing and

involvement in the legal process to civil disobedience.

• Earth First! is different from other environmental groups.
• Here are some things to keep in mind about Earth First! and some suggestions for

being an active and effective Earth First!er: First of all, Earth First! is not an

organization, but a movement.

• There are no “members” of Earth First!, only Earth First!ers. It is a belief in

biocentrism, that life of the Earth comes first, and a practice of putting our beliefs

into action.

• While there is broad diversity within Earth First! from animal rights vegans to

wilderness hunting guides, from shrill voices to careful followers of Gandhi, from

whiskey-drinking backwoods riffraff to thoughtful philosophers, from misanthropes

to humanists there is agreement on one thing, the need for action

The Global Environment Facility was established in October 1991 as a $1 billion pilot program in the World Bank to assist in the protection of the global environment and to promote environmental sustainable development.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) unites 183 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives.

The GEF also serves as the financial mechanism for the following conventions:

 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

 UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

 Minamata Convention on Mercury

‘Drought-forecasting toolbox’ was unveiled at UNCCD COP14 event. The 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was held in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

 It aims to track, assess and deliver relevant information concerning climatic, hydrologic and water supply trends.

 It is developed through the close partnership among, UNCCD, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and global bodies.

The 1995 Basel Ban Amendment, a global waste dumping prohibition, has become an international law after Croatia ratified it on September 6, 2019.

 Croatia became the 97th country to ratify the ban, which was adopted by the parties to the Basel Convention in 1995, to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes, according to Basel Action Network (BAN).

 The Ban Amendment prohibits all export of hazardous wastes, including electronic wastes and obsolete ships from 29 wealthiest countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to non-OECD countries.

 However, countries like the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, India, Brazil, and Mexico are yet to ratify the ban.

Available evidence and the decisions adopted by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) indicate that a significant gap remains in finance for biodiversity management, for countries to drastically scale up their efforts and achieve the 20 Aichi Targets defined in the CBD’s Strategic Plan for 2011-2020.

• A preliminary assessment conducted under the auspices of the High Level Panel on Global Assessment of Resources for Implementing the CBD Strategic Plan for 2011-2020, estimated that the global investment required amounts to between 130 and 440 billion US$ annually.

 In this context, UNDP in October 2012 launched the Biodiversity Finance Initiative – BIOFIN, as a new global partnership seeking to address the biodiversity finance challenge in a comprehensive manner – building a sound business case for increased investment in the management of ecosystems and biodiversity, with a particular focus on the needs and transformational opportunities at the national level.

 BIOFIN aims to develop a methodology for quantifying the biodiversity finance gap at national level, for improving cost-effectiveness through mainstreaming of biodiversity into national development and sectoral planning, and for developing comprehensive national resource mobilizing strategies.

 India’s Vice President Shri Venkaiah Naidu launched India’s Biodiversity Finance Plan on 24th May 2019, during celebrations in Chennai for International Day of Biological Diversity.

Protecting forests is critical to averting the most dangerous climate change and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.
• Avoiding further deforestation could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by three to four billion metric tons per year – the equivalent of taking half the world’s cars off the road.
• Natural climate solutions represent more than 30% of cost effective emissions reductions.
• The Tropical Forest Alliance is a global public-private partnership dedicated to collaborative action to realize sustainable rural development and better growth opportunities based on reduced deforestation and sustainable land use management in tropical forest countries.
• The Alliance includes more than 150 partners representing the private sector, governments, civil society organizations, indigenous peoples groups and multilateral organizations who are committed to reducing tropical deforestation associated with the production of palm oil, soy, beef and pulp and paper.
• TFA is funded by the governments of Norway, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, Germany, and the Gordon and Betty more Foundation and hosted at the World Economic Forum.

The Ramsar Convention signed on February 2, 1971, is one of the oldest inter-governmental accord signed by members countries to preserve the ecological character of their wetlands of international importance.
The aim of the Ramsar list is to develop and maintain an international network of wetlands, which are important for the conservation of global biological diversity and for sustaining human life through the maintenance of their ecosystem components, processes and benefits.
The Ramsar Convention has adopted a Ramsar Classification of Wetland Type which includes 42 types, grouped into three categories:
1. Marine and Coastal Wetlands,
2. Inland Wetlands,
3. Human-made Wetlands.
Except Goa and Karnataka all coastal states have Ramsar sites.

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is an independent intergovernmental body established by States to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development.
• It was established in Panama City, on 21 April 2012 by 94 Governments. It is not a United Nations body.
• However, at the request of the IPBES Plenary and with the authorization of the UNEP Governing Council in 2013, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) provides secretariat services to IPBES.

•A landmark new report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the summary of which was approved at the 7th session of the IPBES Plenary, meeting last week (29 April – 4 May) in Paris.
• The Report finds that around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history.
• To increase the policy-relevance of the Report, the assessment’s authors have ranked, for the first time at this scale and based on a thorough analysis of the available evidence, the five direct drivers of change in nature with the largest relative global impacts so far. These culprits are, in descending order: (1) changes in land and sea use; (2) direct exploitation of organisms; (3) climate change; (4) pollution and (5) invasive alien species.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released (May 2019) a report, Sand and Sustainability: Finding new solutions for environmental governance of global sand resources, that highlights a problem that has largely stayed under the radar: sand consumption globally has been increasing and we are extracting it at rates exceeding natural replenishment rates.
• Sand and gravel, the report says, are the second largest natural resources extracted and traded by volume after water, but among the least regulated.
• The report notes that China and India head the list of critical hotspots for sand extraction impacts in rivers, lakes and on coastlines.
• The report suggests better spatial planning and reducing unnecessary construction — including speculative projects or those being done mainly for prestige — thereby making more efficient use of aggregates, investing in in infrastructure maintenance and retrofitting rather than the demolish and rebuild cycle, embracing alternative design and construction methods, even avoiding use of cement and concrete where possible, and using green infrastructure.

With Southeast Asia awash in rubbish, from plastic-choked whales to trash-clogged canals, leaders are planning to push through a deal to fight maritime debris at a regional meeting in June 2019.
• Just five Asian countries — China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand — dump more than half of the eight million tonnes of plastic waste that end up in oceans every year, according to a 2017 Ocean Conservancy report.
• The region has come under fire for not doing enough to tackle its mounting trash troubles, with single-use plastic and sub-par waste management adding to the problem.
• Leaders at a weekend meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are expected to sign a “Bangkok Declaration” on fighting maritime waste — a first of its kind — which promises to “prevent and significantly reduce marine debris”.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961, working in the field of wilderness preservation, and the reduction of human impact on the environment.
• It was formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States.
• WWF aims to “stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.”
• The Living Planet Report is published every two years by WWF since 1998; it is based on a Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculation.
• In addition, WWF has launched several notable worldwide campaigns including Earth Hour and Debt-for-Nature Swap, and its current work is organized around these six areas: food, climate, freshwater, wildlife, forests, and oceans.

Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure is followed by Rotterdam Convention and Basel Convention.

 The Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure is the mechanism for formally obtaining and disseminating the decisions of importing Parties, as to whether they wish to  receive future shipments of those chemicals listed in Annex III of the Convention and for ensuring compliance with these decisions by exporting Parties.

 The chemicals listed in Annex III include pesticides and industrial chemicals that have been banned or severely restricted for health or environmental reasons by two or more Parties and which the Conference of the Parties has decided to subject to the PIC procedure.

In 2017, 49 scientists authored a landmark paper, “An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm” that called for a Global Deal for Nature (GDN) — a companion to the Paris Climate Agreement — to promote increased habitat protection and restoration, national and regional conservation strategies, and the empowerment of indigenous peoples to protect their sovereign lands.

 The goal of such a deal would be to protect half the terrestrial realm to halt the extinction crisis while sustaining human livelihoods.

 A key concept in the paper is that each of the world’s 846 terrestrial eco-regions needs its own plan shared by the countries whose boundaries overlap its geophysical extent.

 In April 2019, many of these scientists published a new paper called “A Global Deal for Nature: Guiding Principles, Milestones, and Targets” that explains why protecting half the Earth is needed, and presents a science-driven plan to save the diversity and abundance of life on Earth.

 It builds upon many scientific proposals for protecting key biodiversity areas and the latest climate science, calling for a milestone of at least 30% of lands protected by 2030 with an additional 20% in climate stabilization areas. It is also the first to include land, freshwater, and marine eco-regions in one global plan.

The inspiration came from Chi-Chi: a giant panda that had arrived at the London Zoo in the year 1961, when WWF was being created.

Aware of the need for a strong, recognizable symbol that would overcome all language barriers, WWF’s founders agreed that the big, furry animal with her appealing, black-patched eyes would make an excellent logo.