Environmental Conventions and Protocols Notes for Bihar State Exams

Environmental Conventions and Protocols Notes

Convention	Year of establishment	Purpose	Remarks
Ramsar Convention	1971	for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands	· Known as Waterfowl convention. · India is part of it. · There are currently 27 Ramsar sites · in India
Stockholm Declaration	1972	International protection of the environment	· UNEP was the result of it.
Convention on International Trade in Endangered species of Wild flora and fauna (CITES)	1973	Control or prevent international commercial trade in endangered species or products derived from them.	· Known as Washington Convention · Legally binding
Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)	1979	Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals	· Also known as the Bonn Convention · It is under the aegis of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Nairobi Declaration	1982	for achieving sustainable developments	· 10^th anniversary of Stockholm)
Vienna convention	1985	for the protection of the ozone layer	· It does not include legally binding reduction goals
Montreal Protocol	1987	To control Ozone-depleting Substances	· It is a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of Ozone Layer · Universal treaty (Ratified by all UN countries) · Legally binding · Target only ozone depleting substances (Not GHG i.e. Hydro Fluorocarbons)
Brundtland Report	1987	Sustainable Development	· gave the concept of "sustainable development"
Earth Summit/ United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)/ Rio Declaration	1992	Environment conservation & Development	· It had 27 principles · Three legally binding agreements were opened for signature: (i) CBD (ii) UNFCC (iii) UNCCD
Agenda 21	1992	Sustainable Development	· It is a product of Earth Summit, 1992 · Agenda 21 refers to the 21st Century. · Non-binding
UNFCCC	1992	Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming.	· Environmental treaty produced at the Earth Summit, 1992. · Secretariat: Bonn, Germany · legally non-binding · Kyoto Protocol was negotiated under this framework.
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)	1992	Three main goals: 1. Conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); 2. Sustainable use of its components; 3. Sharing the benefits of genetic resources fairly and equitably	· Legally binding · USA has signed but not ratified · The two protocols to CBD are: (a) Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, 2000 (b) Nagoya Protocol (Biodiversity Accord), 2010
UNCCD	1994	Convention to Combat Desertification	· Headquarter: Bonn, Germany · Only convention that came out from direct recommendations of Rio Agenda 21 · Legally Binding · Canada withdrew
Kyoto Protocol (COP 3)	1997	to fight global warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations	· Negotiated under UNFCC · Came into force in 2005 · Binding targets to Annex I countries · Mechanisms under protocol: (a) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) (b) Emission Trading (c) Joint Implementation (JI) · This protocol applies to follow GHGs (Annex A): (a) Carbon Dioxide (CO2) (b) Methane (CH4) (c) Nitrous Oxide (NO2) (d) Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) (e) Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) (f) Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) · The Protocol is based on the principle of shared (Common) but differentiated responsibilities. · It places the obligation on developed countries to reduce current emissions on the basis that they are historically responsible for the current levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. · Annex I countries: industrialized countries and economies in transition · Annex II countries: developed countries which pay for costs of developing countries · Non-Annex I countries: Developing countries · India is Non-Annex party to UNFCC. · There are two commitment periods (i) 2008 – 2012 (ii) 2013 – 2020 Note: The second commitment period was agreed on in 2012, known as the Doha Amendment to the protocol.
Rotterdam Convention	1998	Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade	· UN Treaty
Cartagena Protocol	2000	Biosafety	· Protecting biological diversity from potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology.
Stockholm Convention	2001	Eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants	· UN Treaty · US is not a party to this treaty · Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) and the International Programme for Chemical Safety (IPCS) prepared a list, known as the Dirty Dozen.
REDD & REDD+	2005	Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries	· Negotiated under UNFCC since 2005. · UN-REDD was launched in 2008. India did not participate in it. · REDDD+ (Defined in Bali Action Plan, 2007, CoP13) · REDD+ extends to (a) Sustainable Forest Management (b) Conservation of Forests (c) Enhancement of carbon sinks
Nagoya Protocol	2010	Access to genetic resources and a fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use of the Convention on Biological Diversity	· It is a supplementary agreement to the CBD.
Rio+20	2012	Conference on Sustainable Development	· 20^th Anniversary of Rio Earth Summit 1992.
Paris Agreement (COP 21)	2015	Climate Change	· It will come into force by 2020. · Not legally binding. Aims This century, global temperature rises well below 2 degrees Celsius above circa-industrial level. Pursue efforts to limit the temperature upsurge even further to 5 degrees Celsius. Indian NDCs · Greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP- by 33 to 35 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2030. · By 2030, 40 percent of its energy would be generated from non-fossil fuels. · Increase its forest cover to create an additional carbon sink equivalent to 2.5 to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide by 2030. Note: Recently the US has withdrawn from it.
Kigali Amendment	2016	Reduce Ozone Layer Depletion	· It amends the 1987 Montreal Protocol. · Its aims to reduce Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by roughly 80-85 Percent by late 2045. · It will be binding on member countries from 2019.