COP15 Biodiversity Summit
Context:
After four years of fractious talks, nearly 200 countries, including India, approved a historic Paris-style deal to protect and reverse dangerous loss to global biodiversity, following an intense final session of negotiations at the UN COP-15 summit in Canada.
Relevance:
GS III: Environment and Ecology
Dimensions of the Article:
- Key takeaways from the COP15 biodiversity summit
- About the Convention on Biological Diversity
Key takeaways from the COP15 biodiversity summit
Conservation, protection and restoration
- Delegates committed to protecting 30% of land and 30% of coastal and marine areas by 2030, fulfilling the deal’s highest-profile goal, known as 30-by-30.
- Indigenous and traditional territories will also count toward this goal, as many countries and campaigners pushed for during the talks.
- The deal also aspires to restore 30% of degraded lands and waters throughout the decade, up from an earlier aim of 20%.
- And the world will strive to prevent destroying intact landscapes and areas with a lot of species, bringing those losses “close to zero by 2030”.
Money for nature
- Signatories aim to ensure $200 billion per year is channelled to conservation initiatives, from public and private sources.
- Wealthier countries should contribute at least $20 billion of this every year by 2025, and at least $30 billion a year by 2030.
- This appeared to be the Democratic Republic of Congo’s main source of objection to the package.
Big companies report impacts on biodiversity
- Companies should analyse and report how their operations affect and are affected by biodiversity issues.
- The parties agreed to large companies and financial institutions being subject to “requirements” to make disclosures regarding their operations, supply chains and portfolios.
- This reporting is intended to progressively promote biodiversity, reduce the risks posed to business by the natural world, and encourage sustainable production.
Harmful subsidies
- Countries committed to identify subsidies that deplete biodiversity by 2025, and then eliminate, phase out or reform them.
- They agreed to slash those incentives by at least $500 billion a year by 2030, and increase incentives that are positive for conservation.
Pollution and pesticides
- One of the deal’s more controversial targets sought to reduce the use of pesticides by up to two-thirds.
- But the final language to emerge focuses on the risks associated with pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals instead, pledging to reduce those threats by “at least half”, and instead focusing on other forms of pest management.
- Overall, the Kunming-Montreal agreement will focus on reducing the negative impacts of pollution to levels that are not considered harmful to nature, but the text provides no quantifiable target here.
Monitoring and reporting progress
- All the agreed aims will be supported by processes to monitor progress in the future, in a bid to prevent this agreement meeting the same fate as similar targets that were agreed in Aichi, Japan, in 2010, and never met.
- National action plans will be set and reviewed, following a similar format used for greenhouse gas emissions under U.N.-led efforts to curb climate change.
- Some observers objected to the lack of a deadline for countries to submit these plans.
About the Convention on Biological Diversity
- Biodiversity conservation is a collective responsibility of all nations.
- Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a step towards conserving biological diversity or biodiversity with the involvement of the entire world.
- The Convention on Biological Diversity (a multilateral treaty) was opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and entered into effect in 1993.
- The convention called upon all nations to take appropriate measures for conservation of biodiversity and sustainable utilisation of its benefits.
- It is often seen as the key document regarding sustainable development.
- The Convention is legally binding; countries that join it (‘Parties’) are obliged to implement its provisions.
- 195 UN states and the European Union are parties to the convention.
- All UN member states, with the exception of the United States, have ratified the treaty.
Three main goals:
- conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity);
- sustainable use of its components; and
- fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources.
-Source: The Hindu
Court Vacations
Context:
Recently, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) has said that the Supreme Court will not have a vacation bench when it breaks for its annual winter vacation.
Relevance:
GS II: Polity and Governance
Dimensions of the Article:
- About Court Vacations
- Vacation Bench
- Issues with Court Vacations
About Court Vacations
- The High Court operates for roughly 210 days, the Supreme Court for 193 working days, and trial courts for 245 working days per year.
- High Courts have the authority to organise their schedules in accordance with the service regulations.
- The summer and winter breaks, which the Supreme Court takes twice a year, are technically not closed to the public.
Vacation Bench:
- A special Supreme Court bench chosen by the Chief Justice of India is known as a vacation bench.
- The Supreme Court is still a venue for litigants, and the Vacation Bench hears the case on the merits if the court determines that the plea is a “urgent matter.”
- Before vacation benches, cases involving bail, eviction, and other issues sometimes take precedence.
- Courts frequently hear significant cases when they are off.
- During the summer recess of 2015, a five-judge Supreme Court bench heard arguments against the constitutional amendment creating the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).
- In 2017, a Constitution Bench heard the case contesting the use of triple talaq during the summer break over the course of six days.
Legal Provisions for Vacation Bench
- Under Rule 6 of Order II of The Supreme Court rules, 2013 the CJI has nominates the Division Benches for the hearing of urgent miscellaneous matters and regular hearing matters during the summer vacation for period.
- The rule reads that CJI may appoint one or more Judges to hear during summer vacation or winter holidays all matters of an urgent nature which under these rules may be heard by a Judge sitting singly.
- And, whenever necessary, he may likewise appoint a Division Court for the hearing of urgent cases during the vacation which require to be heard by a Bench of Judges.
Issues with Court Vacations
- For those looking for justice, the lengthy vacation that the courts receive is not very handy.
- Extended, frequent vacations are not a good optics, especially given the rising backlog of cases and the sluggishness of the legal system.
- The vacation will cause additional, inescapable delays in listing cases for the average litigant.
- The summer vacation may have started because European Federal Court of India justices took the winter off for Christmas because they thought Indian summers to be too hot.
-Source: The Hindu
Carbon Markets
Context:
Recently, The Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was passed in Parliament. The Bill empowers the government to establish carbon markets in India and specify a carbon credit trading scheme.
Relevance:
GS II: Environment and Ecology
Dimensions of the Article:
- What are carbon markets?
- What are the challenges?
- About Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill
What are carbon markets?
- Carbon markets are essentially a tool for putting a price on carbon emissions — they establish trading systems where carbon credits or allowances can be bought and sold.
- Article six of the 2015 Paris Agreement provides for the use of international carbon markets by countries to fulfil their nationally determined contributions (NDC) to keep global warming within 2°C.
Carbon Credit:
- A carbon credit is a kind of tradable permit that, as per UN standards, equals one tonne of carbon dioxide removed, reduced, or sequestered from the atmosphere.
- A United Nations Development Program (UNDP) release this year noted that interest in carbon markets is growing globally — 83% of NDCs submitted by countries mention their intent to make use of international market mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Two types of Carbon markets:
Voluntary markets.
- Voluntary markets are those in which emitters — corporations, private individuals, and others— buy carbon credits to offset the emission of one tonne of CO2 or an equivalent greenhouse gas.
- Such carbon credits are created by activities which reduce CO2 from the air, such as afforestation.
- In a voluntary market, a corporation looking to compensate for its unavoidable emissions, purchases carbon credits from an entity engaged in projects that reduce, remove, capture, or avoid emissions. For instance, in the aviation sector, airlines may purchase carbon credits to offset the carbon footprint of the flights they operate.
Compliance markets:
- Compliance markets on the other hand which are set up by policies at the national, regional, and/or international level are officially regulated.
What are the challenges?
- The UNDP points out serious concerns pertaining to carbon markets — ranging from double counting of greenhouse gas reductions, quality and authenticity of climate projects that generate credits to poor market transparency.
- There are also concerns about ‘greenwashing’ — companies may buy credits, simply offsetting carbon footprints instead of reducing their overall emissions.
About Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill
- By amending the Energy Conservation Act of 2001, the Bill gives the central government more authority to designate a carbon credit trading system.
- A percentage of the energy demands of designated users may need to come from non-fossil fuels.
- India made promises pertinent to efforts to increase energy efficiency at the COP-26 meeting in 2021.
- In light of this, in August 2022, the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was presented to Lok Sabha.
Key features of the bill
Carbon credit trading:
- The Bill empowers the central government to specify a carbon credit trading scheme.
- Carbon credit implies a tradable permit to produce a specified amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse emissions.
Obligation to use non-fossil sources of energy:
- The Act empowers the central government to specify energy consumption standards for designated consumers to meet a minimum share of energy consumption from non-fossil sources.
- Designated consumers include:
- industries such as mining, steel, cement, textile, chemicals, and petrochemicals,
- transport sector including Railways,
- commercial buildings, as specified in the schedule.
Energy conservation code for buildings:
- The bill empowers the central government to specify norms for energy efficiency and conservation, use of renewable energy, and other requirements for green buildings.
- Under the Act, the energy conservation code applies to commercial buildings:
- erected after the notification of the Code,
- having a minimum connected load of 100 kilowatt (kW) or contract load of 120 kilo volt ampere (kVA).
Standards for vehicles and vessels:
- Under the bill, the energy consumption standards may be specified for equipment and appliances which consume, generate, transmit, or supply energy.
- The Bill expands the scope to include vehicles (as defined under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988), and vessels (includes ships and boats).
Composition of the governing council of BEE:
- The Act provides for the setting up of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).
- The Bureau has a governing council with members between 20 and 26 in number.
Concerns
- Carbon credit trading aims to reduce carbon emissions, and hence, address climate change.
- The question is whether the Ministry of Power is the appropriate Ministry to regulate this scheme.
- A further question is whether the market regulator for carbon credit trading should be specified in the Act.
- Same activity may be eligible for renewable energy, energy savings, and carbon credit certificates.
- The Bill does not specify whether these certificates will be interchangeable.
- Designated consumers must meet certain non-fossil energy use obligation.
- Given the limited competition among discoms in any area, consumers may not have a choice in the energy mix.
-Source: The Hindu
Ban on Alcohol
Context:
The official death toll from the latest hooch tragedy in “dry” Bihar has mounted to 38. Critics have claimed that one of the reasons behind the tragedy is the state’s prohibition policy, with an official ban on alcohol leading to a thriving underground economy where such spurious alcohol is produced and sold.
Relevance:
GS II: Polity and Governance
Dimensions of the Article:
- How the Indian constitution views alcohol?
- Why do all states not have prohibition?
- What are some of the places which currently have prohibition?
- Does prohibition work?
How the Indian constitution views alcohol?
- One of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) mentions that “in particular, the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health.”
- While DPSPs are not in themselves legally enforceable, they set goals that the state should aspire towards to establish conditions under which citizens can lead a good life.
- Thus, alcohol is seen by the Constitution and by extension, the Indian state, as an undesirable evil that needs to be regulated.
Alcohol is a state subject
- According to the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, alcohol is a state subject, i.e. state legislatures have the right and responsibility to draft laws regarding it, including “the production, manufacture, possession, transport, purchase and sale of intoxicating liquors.”
- Thus, laws regarding alcohol differ from state to state, falling in the whole spectrum between prohibition and private sale.
- Gandhi wrote, “Alcohol makes a man forget himself and while its effects last, he becomes utterly incapable of doing anything useful. Those who take to drinking, ruin themselves and ruin their people.”
Why do all states not have prohibition?
- While the Constitution sets prohibition on alcohol as a goal, for most states, it is very difficult to declare a ban on alcohol.
- This is primarily because liquor revenues are not easy to ignore and have consistently contributed a large share of state governments’ revenue.
- For instance, in Maharashtra, state liquor revenues amounted to Rs 11,000 crore in April 2020 (during the nationwide Covid lockdown), compared with Rs 17,000 crore in March.
Does prohibition work?
Concerns:
- There is evidence to show that by and large, prohibition creates opportunities for a thriving underground economy that distributes liquor, outside the regulatory framework of the state.
- This creates its own problems, from strengthening organised crime groups (or mafias) to the distribution of spurious liquor.
- While the government made liquor more inaccessible, it is impossible to take it out of circulation completely.
- Furthermore, prohibition disproportionately affects poorer sections of society with upper classes still being able to procure expensive (and safe) alcohol.
Benefits:
- Various studies have provided evidence linking alcohol with domestic abuse or domestic violence.
- In India, prohibition has often been framed as a “women’s rights” issue.
- A report by the Sexual Violence Research Initiative says that after prohibition was introduced in 2016, “crimes against women have clearly declined both in terms of rate (registered cases per 100,000 female population) and incidence (absolute numbers).”
- While other factors may also be involved, other studies have shown marginal improvement in certain kinds of crime after prohibition.
-Source: Indian Express
Goa Liberation Day
Context:
President tweeted her greetings to the nation on December 19, marking Goa Liberation Day, which is celebrated annually to mark the success of ‘Operation Vijay’ undertaken by the Indian armed forces to defeat Portuguese colonial forces and liberate Goa in 1961.
Relevance:
GS II: Polity and Governance
Dimensions of the Article:
- History of Goa’s colonisation by European powers
- How was independence achieved?
- Operation Vijay
History of Goa’s colonisation by European powers
- The Portuguese colonial presence in Goa began in 1510, when Afonso de Albuquerque defeated the ruling Bijapur king with the help of a local ally, Timayya, and subsequently established a permanent settlement in Velha Goa (or Old Goa).
- Over the following centuries, the Portuguese fought frequent battles with the Marathas and the Deccan sultanates.
- During the Napoleonic Wars, Goa was briefly occupied by the British between 1812 and 1815.
- In 1843, the capital was moved to Panjim from Velha Goa.
- Goa was Portugal’s most prized possession in India and the biggest territory in Estado da India Portuguesa or the Portuguese empire in India.
- Portuguese colonial rule also saw the advent and growth of Christianity in Goa.
- Over time, the Portuguese lost most of the territories in the Estado but retained Goa until well after India itself had thrown off the yoke of the British Raj.
How was independence achieved?
- Post-1947, Portugal refused to negotiate with independent India on the transfer of sovereignty of their Indian enclaves.
- Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was keen that Goa should be integrated by diplomatic means.
- After Portugal became part of the US-led Western military alliance NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) in 1949, Goa too became part of the anti-Soviet alliance by extension.
- Fearing a collective Western response to a possible attack on Goa, the Indian government continued to lay stress on diplomacy.
- In his 1955 Independence Day speech, Nehru was critical of the satyagraha movement in Goa.
- However, the Indian government reacted sharply to an incident of firing on satyagrahis, and snapped ties with Portugal.
- Scholars have pointed out that as India aggressively championed the Non-Aligned Movement, decolonisation, and anti-imperialism as pillars of its policy, the continuation of colonial rule in Portugal became increasingly unsustainable.
Operation Vijay
- The Indian government finally declared that Goa should join India “either with full peace or with full use of force”.
- December 18 and 19, 1961 saw a full-fledged military operation termed ‘Operation Vijay’, which was carried out with little resistance and an instrument of surrender was signed, leading to Goa’s annexation by India.
-Source: Indian Express
