■ India Pushes For New Biodiversity Fund-
At CBD COP 15, Montreal (Canada), 196 parties to the Convention are looking forward to finalizing negotiations for a post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
GBF is a new set of goals and targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
● India’s View:
India, at the U.N. biodiversity conference, highlighted the need to create a new and dedicated fund to assist developing countries in successfully implementing a post-2020 global framework to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
India further said that the Conservation of biodiversity should also be based on common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR) as climate change also influences nature.
As the members of CBD finalize GBF there have been repeated calls for the inclusion of the CBDR principle in finance-related targets.
CBDR was established as the seventh principle of the Rio Declaration adopted at the Earth Summit in 1992.
It acknowledges that the states have common but differentiated responsibilities in view of the different contributions to global environmental degradation.
● Global Environment Facility:
The Global Environment Facility(GEF) is the only source of funding for biodiversity conservation. GEF also caters to other conventions like UNFCCC and UN Convention to Combat Desertification.
Developing countries across the world have been demanding a new and dedicated biodiversity fund because the existing multilateral sources are not up to the mark in meeting the requirements of the GBF.
The differences with rich countries on the issue prompted representatives from developing nations to stage a walkout from crucial financing talks.
It is observed that applying the CBDR principle to biodiversity conservation is difficult and there have been repeated disagreements between the global north and
south.
● Other Demand at CBD COP 15:
There are also efforts by several countries to build a consensus on eliminating subsidies that are harmful to the environment, like subsidies for fossil fuel production, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, by at least $500 billion annually and utilizing this money for biodiversity conservation.
India is against the proposal of reducing the agriculture-related subsidy and redirecting the savings for biodiversity conservation due to various national priorities.
