'Protect nature and it will protect you': Prakash Javadekar at UN Biodiversity Summit

Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar addressed United Nations Biodiversity Summit on occasion of “75th anniversary of UN". While addressing summit, Javadekar asserted that India has been championing cause of Climate Action through conservation, sustainable lifestyle and green development model.

Javadekar began his address by saying that India has a culture of t just conserving and protecting nature, but living in harmony with it since time immemorial.

reafter he seemingly targeted China, alleged origin of COVID-19, by saying that emergence of virus has emphasised fact that unregulated exploitation of natural resources coupled with unsustainable food habits and consumption pattern leads to destruction of system that supports human life.

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'Prakruti Rakshite Rakshita'

He recited a Sanskrit verse "Prakruti Rakshite Rakshita" meaning "if you protect nature, it will protect you" and invoked Mahatma Gandhi's principles of n-violence t only for humans but towards animals and nature. He stated that se principles have been enshrined in constitution which are reflecting in various laws and legislations of India.

"It is due to se beliefs and efforts and India's ethos, with only 2.5% of Earth's landmass India, we have 8% of world's recorded biodiversity. course of last decade, India has enhanced combined forest and tree cover by 15,000 square kilometres to reach nearly 25%," he said.

He also apprised summit that India aims to restore 26 million hectares of degraded and deforested land, and achieve land-degradation neutrality by 2030.

Speaking of groundwork that India has done in past he said, "India has operationalized a system for access and benefit-sharing provisions of Convention on Biological Diversity through a national network of 250,000 Biodiversity Manment Committees across country involving locals and 170,000 Peoples Biodiversity Registers for documentation of biodiversity."

He also spoke about two summits organised by India in 2020 namely fourteenth meeting of Conference of Parties to UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 14) and 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of Convention on conservation of migratory species of wild animals (CMS) in Gandhinagar in 2020.

"India has already taken a leadership role in order to conserve biodiversity by organizing two Conference of Parties (CoPs) within a span of less than a year. We organized CoP 14 of UNCCD during September 2019 in New Delhi, followed by CoP 13 of Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) in Gandhinagar during February 2020," he said.

Javadekar said that India has been championing cause of "climate action" through conservation, sustainable lifestyle, and green development model.

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