At COP15 summit, India warns developed nations 'one-size-fits-all' unacceptable

This comes as developed nations, including the host, are seeking that 30% of land and 30% of oceans be protected by 2030.

India has stressed that as the world moves towards the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), area-based targets that take “a one-size-fits-all-approach” are “not acceptable.”

Delegates take souvenir photos during a snowfall outside the convention centre at the COP15 UN conference on biodiversity in Montreal, on Friday. (AP)

This point was underscored by Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav, while presenting India’s national statement to delegates at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in the Canadian city of Montreal.

This comes as developed nations, including the host, are seeking that 30% of land and 30% of oceans be protected by 2030. This target was also on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s agenda as he welcomed delegates to the global meet in Montreal on December 6. A release from the Canadian PMO at the time noted that “Canada will continue to push other countries to commit to conserving 30 per cent of the world’s land and oceans by 2030.”

India is also opposed to the proposal for removal of subsidies to agriculture and fisheries sectors.

“Essential support to vulnerable sections cannot be called subsidy and targeted for elimination, while they may be rationalised,” Yadav asserted. He also said a “numerical global target for pesticide reduction is unnecessary and must be left to countries to decide.”

“The Global Biodiversity Framework must be framed in the light of science and equity, and the sovereign right of nations over their resources, as provided for in the Convention on Biodiversity,” the Minister added.

He sought “resolute action by developed countries to measure up to their historical and current responsibilities” in the light of their “historical, disproportionate and iniquitous” emissions.

Disagreements between developed nations and emerging economies like India, have disrupted deliberations towards acceptance of a draft biodiversity framework, which has 22 targets. Differences, including on a funding mechanism for conservation, nearly crippled dialogue as developing nations left the table on Wednesday.

Yadav said that for the ambitious targets to be implemented, matching means of funding, including via public finance, were called for but the “only source of funding remains the Global Environment Facility that caters to multiple Conventions.” India has favoured a new mechanism under sections 20 and 21 of the Convention on Biological Diversity

COP15 commenced on December 7 and runs through December 19, leaving little time to overcome differences.

Yadav is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, in Montreal on Saturday.