SDG 15: Life on Land | SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Institutions: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
The Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh, launched India’s National Red List Roadmap at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi. This landmark initiative, with a vision spanning 2025–2030, aims to establish a nationally coordinated, science-based system to assess and monitor the conservation status of native species. The program, spearheaded by the MoEFCC, with Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and Botanical Survey of India (BSI) as nodal agencies, is fully aligned with global commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF). The core goal is the comprehensive threat assessment of Indian flora and fauna, culminating in the publication of National Red Data Books by 2030. This will be one of the most comprehensive national biodiversity efforts globally.
This marks a major policy step toward strengthening India’s science-based approach to environmental governance. By producing rigorous, globally-aligned data, the initiative directly informs the planning sector, ensuring development projects are assessed against verifiable national biodiversity conservation priorities.
What is the National Red List Assessment and why is India launching it? → The National Red List Assessment is an initiative to evaluate the extinction risk of species native to India using scientifically robust guidelines established by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). India is launching it to fulfill international obligations, strengthen its legal framework (like the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972), and generate the evidence-based data necessary for informed conservation planning, development policy, and threat mitigation.
What is the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and what are its goals? → The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a legally binding international treaty established in 1992 that serves as the global foundation for protecting the natural world. It operates on three main goals: the conservation of Earth’s biological diversity (species and ecosystems), the sustainable use of its components (ensuring natural resources are available for future generations), and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from genetic resources (such as medicinal discoveries). The CBD provides the institutional mechanism for countries to commit to national and global biodiversity protection strategies.
What is the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) and what is its key target? The Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) is the landmark strategic plan adopted under the CBD in 2022, often called the world’s “Paris Agreement for Nature.” Its primary purpose is to halt and reverse biodiversity loss globally by 2030. It sets out four long-term goals and 23 action-oriented targets, the most prominent being Target 3, which commits countries to ensuring that at least 30% of the world’s land and 30% of coastal and marine areas are effectively conserved and managed by the year 2030 (the “30x30” target). We can think of the CBD as the Constitution for global biodiversity protection, and the KM-GBF as the current 10-year policy roadmap created to implement that Constitution.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: How will the new science-based National Red List data be integrated into India’s environmental clearance process for large infrastructure projects?
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