India’s updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP)

Syllabus: GS3/Biodiversity and Conservation

Context

• India launched the updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) 2024-2030, at the COP 16 to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 

Major Highlights of NBSAP

• India has updated the NBSAP to align with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) establishing the National Biodiversity Targets (NBTs). 
• It outlines 23 National Biodiversity Targets focused on reducing threats to biodiversity, ensuring sustainable use of resources, and enhancing tools for implementation.
  • Each target is linked to specific strategies aimed at promoting ecosystem resilience, species recovery, and sustainable management practices.
• Implementation: The MoEFCC serves as the central agency responsible for coordinating biodiversity conservation efforts across India. 

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

• The CBD is a part of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), came into being in 1993.
  • It has three major objectives—conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of the components of biological diversity, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)

• GBF was adopted by the COP15 to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2022.
• It has been promoted as a “Paris Agreement for Nature”.
• The GBF contains 4 global goals and 23 targets.
  • Among the twenty-three targets to be achieved by 2030 include halving the introduction of invasive species, and $500 billion/year reduction in harmful subsidies.
  • “Target 3” is especially referred to as the “30X30” target.
• ’30X30′ target
  • Under it, delegates committed to protecting 30% of land and 30% of coastal and marine areas by 2030, fulfilling the deal’s highest-profile goal, known as 30-by-30.
  • The deal also aspires to restore 30% of degraded lands and waters throughout the decade, up from an earlier aim of 20%.
  • Also, the world will strive to prevent destroying intact landscapes and areas with a lot of species, bringing those losses “close to zero by 2030”.

Major Outcomes of Cop 16

• Cali Fund: It is a multilateral mechanism, including a global fund, to share the benefits from uses of digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources more fairly and equitably.
  • It will be non-binding (voluntary) where firms are expected to contribute 1% of their profit or 0.1% of their revenue.
• Indigenous People and Local Communities: A new Programme that sets out specific tasks to ensure the meaningful contribution of indigenous peoples and local communities towards the three objectives of the Convention was adopted.
• Synthetic biology: An expert group will guide identification of synthetic biology’s potential benefits and review the potential impacts of recent technological developments. 
• Invasive Alien Species: It proposes guidelines for managing invasive alien species, touching on issues such as e-commerce, multicriteria analysis methodologies and others. 
• Biodiversity and Health: A Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health designed to help curb the emergence of zoonotic diseases, and prevent non-communicable diseases, it embraces a holistic “One Health” approach.
• Risk Assessment: Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety welcomed new, voluntary guidance on assessing the risks posed by living modified organisms (LMOs) containing engineered gene drives.
  • They are voluntary in nature, individual countries can tailor them to national contexts, considering ecological variables unique to their environments. 

Source: PIB