Prakash Javadekar urges nations to put 'nature at heart' of recovery plan post COVID-19

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar represented India in the Ministerial Roundtable Dialogue on Biodiversity Beyond hosted by China, one week ahead of the United Nation's Summit of Biodiversity. In the meeting, Javadekar urged the participating countries to put "nature at the heart" of their recovery plan post-COVID-19 pandemic. He also added that un-controlled exploitation of natural resources along with unhealthy eating patterns has damaged the systems which support human life.

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'India playing lead roles in biodiversity conservation': Javadekar

While speaking at the Ministerial Roundtable Dialogue on Biodiversity Beyond 2020, Javadekar said that India has been taking active steps to conserve biodiversity. He said, "In a period of less than 1 year, India hosted two Conference of Parties (COPs)". India held UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP in September 2019, and CMS COP in February 2020. He added that by the year 2030, India plans to restore over 26 million hectares of degraded land and achieve land-degradation neutrality. 

"With just 2.4 per cent of the land area, India accounts for nearly 8 per cent of the recorded species even while supporting almost 18 per cent of the human population as well as cattle population and has also enhanced forest cover to nearly 25 per cent."

Javadekar said that after 11 years of hard work in the 'Save Tiger' project, India now has the largest wild tiger population. He also informed the roundtable that India being home to thousands of different species, it has a strong legal and institutional set up for biodiversity governance along with an established system for access and benefit-sharing provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Emphasising on the Global Biodiversity Outlook report shared by CBD recently, he said, "We have no option left except to join hands and to conserve and protect nature and said that India believes that the 15th Conference of Parties to the CBD scheduled in 2021 at Kunming, China for the adoption of post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework provides a unique opportunity."

Ministerial Roundtable Dialogue on Biodiversity Beyond 2020

Prakash Javadekar along with other 15 ministerial representatives from different countries across the world, participated in the Ministerial Roundtable Dialogue on Biodiversity Beyond 2020; Building a Shared Future for All. The meet was also joined by the heads of important international organisations. China organised the meet to exchange views on how to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable development. 

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