Glasgow Declaration

Glasgow Declaration

Subject – Environment

Context – forest-rich India staying away from Glasgow Declaration

Concept –

• The Glasgow Declaration said – We recognise that to meet our land use, climate, biodiversity and sustainable development goals, both globally and nationally, will require transformative further action in the interconnected areas of sustainable production and consumption, infrastructure development, trade, finance and investment and support for smallholders, indigenous peoples and local communities, who depend on forests for their livelihoods and have a key role in their stewardship.
• India, one of the 10 most forest-rich countries of the world, chose to stay away November 2, 2021, as more than 100 world leaders committed to saving the world’s forests at the 26th Conference of Parties (CoP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow, Scotland.
• India apparently took the step as it was not happy with the effort to link infrastructure development and related activities with the conservation of forests in the prepared text.
• The text of the final declaration linked transformative action in the related areas of sustainable production and consumption, infrastructure development, trade as well as finance and investment.
• An Indian representative told this reporter that the linkage proposed between trade, climate change and forest issues was unacceptable to India as it fell under the World Trade Organization.
• India is also mulling changes to the existing Forest Conservation Act, 1980 to allow more windows of deforestation for accommodating key projects. It is an effort that might be pushed back once India becomes part of the forest pact as proposed in Glasgow.

About the Declaration –

• On November 2, leaders committed $19 billion of public and private funds to “halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030”. They represented close to nine-tenth of world forests. The Declaration was hailed as the “biggest step” in protecting global forests.
• Countries spanning from Canada and Russia, with their northern boreal or taiga forests to the tropical rainforests of Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo endorsed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use.
• Together, they contain 85 per cent of the world’s forests, an area of over 13 million square miles.
• Of the approximately $19 billion committed, $12 billion will be public finance, that will be committed by 12 countries including the UK within the time frame of 2021-2025.
• The money will support activities in developing countries, including restoring degraded land, tackling wildfires and supporting the rights of indigenous communities.