Expenditure on biodiversity needs to be looked at as an investment that will reap benefits for us and our future generations. The present global crisis should not deter us but encourage us to raise natural capital, said environment and forests minister Jayanthi Natarajan.
Addressing a gathering at the inaugural session of the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP-11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) here on Monday, she said, sustainable living along with resource mobilisation was the most important factor to generate momentum to achieve the Aichi targets.
The 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets for 2015 or 2020 are the key elements of the new Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, which the 10th Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP 10) agreed on in October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan.
“On the strategic plan, we need to adopt decisions that strengthen the supporting mechanisms for this ambitious target plan such as capacity building, raising awareness and technology transfer,” she said.
The global biodiversity outlook-3 has indicated that the current trends in biodiversity loss are bringing us closer to potential tipping points that would catastrophically reduce the ecosystems to provide services essential for our survival, according to her.
She said India was fully committed to the cause and the process for ratification of the Nagoya Protocol.
Around 5,000 delegates from over 160 countries participated in the inaugural of the CoP. Around 173 Parties and more than 14,400 participants have pre-registered for the meeting, making it one of the largest gatherings.
The CoP II will focus on mobilising resources for implementing programmes, protecting marine biodiversity, conserving protected areas, island territories, fund raising mechanism for implementing biodiversity protocols and access and benefit sharing of biodiversity resources, etc.
It is expected to review the progress so far and to produce decisions that would provide further momentum for implementation of the targets.
