India launches updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan at COP 16
The COP 16 to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is in Colombia
India adopted
‘Whole-of-Government’ and ‘Whole-of-Society’ approach in updating its NBSAP,
outlining strategies to address environmental challenges through ecosystem
restoration, species recovery programmes, and community-driven conservation
efforts: MoS Kirti Vardhan Singh
Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Kirti
Vardhan Singh, released India’s updated National Biodiversity Strategy and
Action Plan (NBSAP), at the 16th meeting of
the Conference of Parties (COP 16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD). The document was released during a special event called ‘Roadmap for
achieving the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) targets
and release of India’s updated NBSAP’, on 30th October 2024,
in Cali, Colombia.
The event witnessed the distinguished presence of Mauricio Cabrera,
Vice-Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia; Kandya
Obezo, Vice-Minister of Multilateral Affairs, Colombia; and Astrid Schomaker,
Executive Secretary, CBD; Tanmay Kumar, Special Secretary, Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, and C Achalender
Reddy, Chairman, National Biodiversity Authority.
During the event, Kirti Vardhan Singh stated that the updated NBSAP,
aligned with the KMGBF, is a vital roadmap to address the strategies to halt
and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, with a longer-term vision of living in
harmony with nature by 2050. He highlighted that India had adopted the
‘Whole-of-Government’ and ‘Whole-of-Society’ approach in updating its NBSAP.
The Minister further highlighted that the updated NBSAP acknowledges
environmental challenges and outlines strategies to address them through
ecosystem restoration, species recovery programmes, and community-driven
conservation efforts focusing on the restoration of degraded ecosystems, the
protection of wetlands, and the sustainable management of marine and coastal
areas.
Special Secretary, MoEFCC, emphasised India’s governance framework for
biodiversity conservation, exemplified by the Biological Diversity Act of 2002
and its amendments of 2023. This framework includes a three-tier institutional
structure comprising the National Biodiversity Authority, State Biodiversity
Boards, and local Biodiversity Management Committees, ensuring effective implementation
at all levels. The MoEFCC serves as the central agency responsible for
coordinating biodiversity conservation efforts across India. The NBSAP update
was driven by an extensive consultative process, led by MoEFCC and involving 23
central Ministries, multiple Departments, State-level organisations,
communities, and other stakeholders. The updated NBSAP aligns with the
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, setting 23 national
biodiversity targets through an extensive consultative process involving
diverse stakeholders.
It was further informed that India’s updated National Biodiversity
Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) had been prepared under the able and constant
guidance of Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate
Change, and Ms. Leena Nandan, Secretary, MoEFCC. The updated NBSAP emphasizes
the adoption of a transformative approach and focuses on an ecosystem-based
management approach, a bottom-up approach for implementation, mainstreaming
biodiversity, sectoral integration, and inter-agency cooperation. It also
provides insight into the current status of biodiversity across India and
trends therein, existing policy and institutional framework, biodiversity
expenditure, and potential biodiversity finance solutions.
Link to the Updated NBSAP:
https://ort.cbd.int/nbsaps/my-country/8D6F8524-3F89-5B94-FC00-2927C0F47AF9/view#0.53/45.8/-124.4