LIMITATIONS OF RIO CONVENTION ON

BIO-DIVERSITY

[PSDA]

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

HEADS

1. Description of Rio convention which was a part of the earth summit 1992
2. The result of the documentation and 2 weeks deliberation and meeting
included agenda 21.
3. Within these 3 conventions were formed
a) UN framework convention on climate change
b) Convention of biological diversity
c) Convention to combat desertification
4. Meaning of biological diversity: is all the different kinds of life you'll
find in one area—the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even
microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world. Each of
these species and organisms work together in ecosystems, like an intricate
web, to maintain balance and support life.
5. Is the convention still in function
6. Is it still legally binding?
7. Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI)
8. The first meeting of the SBI was held on 2–6 May 2016 and the second
meeting was held on 9–13 July 2018, both in Montreal, Canada.
9. Implementation of the convention
 10. Purpose of the convention
11. Principles of cbd
12.Further categorical division of the act

THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGIAL DIVERSITY

It is an international legally binding treaty with three main goals

a) Conservation of biodiversity
b) Sustainable use of biodiversity
c) Fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic
resources

 Nearly all countries have ratified it except for the USA which has until
yet only signed it but did not ratified the same.
 The CBD is based on the Montreal Canada and it operates under the
united nation environmental programme.
 The parties under the convention of biodiversity, meet at regular decided
intervals and these meetings are called conference of parties

CARTEGENA PROTOCOL [ effective since 2003]

It is an international agreement managing the movement of living modified

organisms from one country to another.

It aims to protect nature from the potential risk posed by such organisms by
establishing procedure countries can use to make informed decision on the
import of such organisms

OBJECTIVE
 Is to contribute to ensuring an adequate level of protection in the field of
the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms (LMO’s )
resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on
the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking also
into accounts risks to human health, specifically focusing on trans-
boundary movements.

COP 10 under CBD

The 10th meeting for the CBD gave birth to two new concepts
a) Nagoya protocol on genetic resources
b) Aichi targets for biodiversity

AICHI TARGETS

In the COP-10 meeting the parties agreed that previous biodiversity

protection targets are not achieved, so they came up with new plans
and target.
PLANTIME FRAME
 Mid/long term by 2050
 Short term by 2020

 This short-term plan I officially known as “strategic plan for biodiversity

2011- 2020”
 It is a ten-year framework for action by all countries to save biodiversity.
 This short-term plan provides a set of 20 ambitious yet achievable targets,
collectively known as Aichi targets
 Aichi targets : 20 targets, divided into 5 sections ( A TO E )

NAGOYA PROTOCOL AND INDIA

  India signed the Nagoya protocol in 2011 itself and ratified in October
2012
 The ratification by India was done at the 11th conference of parties to
the CBD, which was conducted in Hyderabad
 Intergenerational equity principle6

DRAWBACKS

As of 2020, CBD has 196 parties and all UN member states, with the exception of the United
States, have ratified the treaty. CBD Parties have adopted the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety (now with 170 members) and the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources
and Benefit Sharing (now with 126 members). Additionally, parties have a consolidated
subsidiary science body (SBSTTA), a fledging subsidiary body on implementation (SBI), and
a permanent Open-ended Working Group on Traditional Knowledge, a growing Global
Platform on Business and Biodiversity (currently engaging around 60 countries). Parties have
adopted a successful Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), an equally successful
Work Program on Protected Areas, an improving Strategic Plan for Sustainable Wildlife
Management, a Plan of Action on Customary Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, and several
guidelines, directives and safeguards to protect traditional knowledge.

However, most countries still lack effective cross-sectoral dialogue and coordination
mechanisms, with prevailing sectoral policies and agencies still working in silos, often with
conflicting and competing policies and without benefiting from potential synergies (this is a
major impediment for the mainstreaming biodiversity and for implementation of NBSAPs
and the SDGs). Some examples of mainstreaming biodiversity across public policies in
different countries are: 1) US Presidential Directives under President Obama directing all
Federal agencies to promote climate change adaptation and pollinators conservation
(dismissed by President Trump); 2) Brazil Presidential Decree established by President Lula
directing a dozen ministries and agencies to use their budget and policy tools to promote the
reduction of the rate of deforestation in the Amazon Region (dismissed by President
Bolsonaro

The First Strategic Plan was adopted by CBD in 2002 at COP 6 in the Hague, but detailed
targets were not adopted until COP 7 in Kuala Lumpur in 2004. Only 76 Parties had NBSAPs
by 2000, increasing to 132 Parties with NBSAPs adopted by 2010. The implementation of
this Strategic Plan was seen as a failure in 2010 (see assessment in the third Global
Biodiversity Outlook report - GBO3). The accepted reasons for this failure were the short
time for implementation, the funding limitations, the failure to tackle the underlying causes of
biodiversity loss, and the underestimation of benefits biodiversity provides for human well-
being (findings of a technical workshop held in Cambridge, UK).

he Global Strategy on Biodiversity for 2011 to 2020 adopted in 2010 at CBD COP 10 in
Nagoya established five broad objectives and 20 Global Biodiversity Targets, known as the
Aichi Targets.

Regarding the Aichi Targets some are outcome targets and others are process targets, but few
are SMART targets. Most Aichi targets convey broad and vague desired outcomes and few
include detailed implementation elements as in Aichi Target 11. With the help of the
Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (BIP) indicators were developed and agreed on for most
targets. The CBD Parties recognize the nature of the Strategic Plan as a flexible global
framework which allowed Parties to adapt to national circumstances and priorities. CBD
Parties agreed to revise or update existing NBSAPs to align them to the new Strategic Plan,
its goals and targets. Importantly, the Strategic Plan recognized the value of implementation
measures but did not detail them.

preliminary assessment of the implementation of the Aichi Targets conducted by the CBD
Secretariat was launched in 2014 in time for CBD COP 12 in Pyeongchang, Republic of
Korea based on the relevant scientific literature, reports from UN organizations and on the
self-assessment information provided by only some 60 Parties which submitted their 5th
National Reports in-time for use in the elaboration of GBO4 (see assessment in the fourth
Global Biodiversity Outlook report – GBO4) . The two main findings of this report were that
most CBD Parties were making significant efforts to implement their national targets and that
such efforts were insufficient to meet their national targets by 2020 and to contribute to the
full implementation of the Aichi Targets by the end of the decade. According to CBD
Secretariat document CBD/SBI/3/2/Add.1 the CBD Secretariat has compiled a database of all
“targets” presented in NBSAPs, fifth and sixth national reports or separate documents
submitted since the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties. As of 16 March 2020, the
database contains 4,107 separate “targets”. To date, 99 Parties have mapped their national
targets to the global targets. Further analysis of national targets is provided in the updated
analysis of the contribution of targets established by Parties and progress towards the Aichi
Biodiversity Targets (CBD/SBI/3/2/Add.2).

According to CBD Secretariat document CBD/SBI/3/2/Add.2 a total of 156 sixth national

reports were reviewed in this analysis bearing in mind that the guidelines for the sixth
national reports requested Parties to assess progress towards the attainment of their national
targets using five categories used in this assessment, consistent with those used in the sixth
national report guidelines, the fourth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook and earlier
assessments of the fifth national reports: (a) On track to exceed target; (b) On track to achieve
target; (c) Progress towards target but at an insufficient rate; (d) No significant change (no
significant progress); (e) Moving away from target. The information in the national reports,
according to CBD Secretariat document CBD/SBI/3/2/Add.2, suggests that on average more
than a third of all national targets are on track to be met or exceeded (only 3%). However, of
the reporting Parties, on average, only a tenth of the national target that are similar to an
Aichi Biodiversity Target are on track to be met. On average for about half of the national
targets progress is being made but not at a rate that will allow them to be met. Further, on
average, about a tenth of national targets have no significant progress or are moving in the
wrong direction (only 1%). Most progress appears to have been made towards the national
targets related to Aichi Biodiversity Targets 1, 11, 16, 17 and 19. By comparison, much less
progress appears to have been made towards the national targets related to Aichi Biodiversity
Targets 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14 and 20. A comprehensive and updated assessment of the
implementation of all these national biodiversity targets and their contribution to the global
Aichi Targets will be launched in September 2020 as part of the Global Biodiversity Outlook
5 report in time for the Biodiversity Summit of the UN General Assembly in September of
2020.
Actual paper

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Blue is for the journal