COP 11 - Eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity

The Conference of the Parties is the governing body of the Convention, and advances implementation of the Convention through the decisions it takes at its periodic meetings.

 

To date the Conference of the Parties has held 10 ordinary meetings, and one extraordinary meeting (the latter, to adopt the Biosafety Protocol, was held in two parts). From 1994 to 1996, the Conference of the Parties held its ordinary meetings annually. Since then these meetings have been held somewhat less frequently and, following a change in the rules of procedure in 2000, will now be held every two years. To date the Conference of the Parties has taken a total of 299 procedural and substantive decisions.

 

The Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity was be held in Nagoya, Japan (18 - 20 October 2010). The Eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties will take place in India in October 2012.

 

Source: http://www.cbd.int/cop/

Economic Survey of India 2011-12

A flagship annual document of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Economic Survey 2011–12 reviews the developments in the Indian economy over the previous 12 months, summarizes the performance on major development programmes, and highlights the policy initiatives of the government and the prospects of the economy in the short to medium term.

 
With detailed statistical data covering all aspects of the economy—macro as well as sectoral—the report provides an overview of the many issues including human development, climate change and public programmes.

 

Some excerpts from the reports are given below,

 

Human Development

 

“The Human Development Report (HDR)published by the United Nations DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP) estimates the HDI in terms ofthree basic capabilities: to live a long and healthylife, to be educated and knowledgeable, and to enjoya decent economic standard of living. According toHDR 2011, the HDI for India was 0.547 in 2011 withan overall global ranking of 134(out of the 187countries) compared to 119”


“The existing gap in health and education indicators as comparedto developed countries and also many of thedeveloping countries indicates the need for muchfaster and wider spread of basic health and education.”


“Inclusive development can be viewed in termsof progress in social and financial inclusion. A largepart of the population, particularly segments likelandless agricultural labourers, marginal farmers,scheduled castes (SCs), scheduled tribes (STs), andother backward classes (OBCs), continue to suffersocial and financial exclusion...For growth to be inclusive it must createadequate livelihood opportunities and add to decentemployment commensurate with the expectationsof a growing labour force.”

 

To view the full document click here

 

Sustainable Development and Climate Change

 

“State of the Environment Report by the Ministry ofEnvionment and Forests (MOEF) clubs the issues under five key challenges faced by India, which areclimate change, food security, water security,energy security, and managing urbanization.Climate change is impacting the natural ecosystems and is expected to have substantial adverse effects in India, mainly on agriculture onwhich around 58 per cent of the population depends for livelihood, water storage in the Himalayanglaciers which are the source of major rivers and groundwater recharge, sea-level rise, and threats to a long coastline and habitations. Climate change will also cause increased frequency of extreme events such as storms, floods, and droughts. These in turn will impact India’s food & water security problems. India also faces the critical challenge of meeting its rapidly growing energy demands. It currently depends on around 80 per cent imports for its crude oil requirements. A large section of the rural population is still not connected to the grid or efficient modern cooking fuel sources, and India’s per capita energy consumption of 439 kg of oil equivalent is far below the world average of 1688kg (Planning Commission report in 2006). The energy poverty of the household sector is indicated not only by the low penetration of electricity intothe sector, but also by its primary dependence on traditional inefficient fuel for cooking and lighting” 

 

“Green development has to take into account the need to accommodate faster rates of traditional growth that are more inclusive—such as modern energy needs of poorer households. For example, converting(depleting) abundant ‘dirty’ coal into clean electricity will represent a valid choice, provided the distribution of such benefits is more skewed towards the energy needs of poorer, unconnected households, and notif it is to meet subsidized energy needs of richer households, whether in urban or rural areas.Analogous arguments apply globally.”


“India will therefore need to find (save) and devote (spend) even more resources for meeting economic well-being needs with greater environmental sustainability. Broad-based economic and social development is ultimately the answer.”

 

To view full document click here

 

Source: http://indiabudget.nic.in/

 

Earth Summit 2012

The world is facing a mounting crisis. In recent years we have experienced a combination of a global financial crisis, a food crisis, volatile oil prices, accelerating ecosystem degradation and an increasing number of climate-induced extreme weather events. These multiple and inter-related crises call into question the ability of a growing human population to live peacefully and sustainably on this planet, and demand the urgent attention governments and citizens around the world.


Earth Summit 2012 will be the fourth Summit of its kind and represents another milestone in ongoing international efforts to accelerate progress towards achieving sustainable development globally.


The UN Conference on Sustainable Development has a number of objectives and themes as mentioned below,


Objectives:
Securing Political Commitment to Sustainable Development
Assessing Progress Towards Internationally Agreed Commitments
New and Emerging Challenges
 
Themes:
Green Economy in the context of Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development
Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development

 

Source: http://www.earthsummit2012.org/