GS3 Conservation of environment

 Biological Diversity Bill

Why in News?

Lok Sabha recently passed the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which aims to amend the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

What is the biological diversity act?

“The biological diversity act is meant for sustainable use of biological components, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits with vulnerable communities.

Why needed to amend?

Current biodiversity conservation law places a heavy compliance burden, making it difficult for collaborative research and investments. The modified legislation also decriminalizes all offenses, prescribing penalties instead.

We need to promote ease of doing business in India. We want research, cooperation and innovation in this sector. We want to promote ease of doing business and living.

Provisions under the Bill:

• Wild medicinal plants: 

• It seeks to reduce the pressure on wild medicinal plants by encouraging the cultivation of medicinal plants; 

• The bill focuses on regulating who can access biological resources and knowledge and how access will be monitored. 

• Ayush practitioners: 

• It exempts Ayush practitioners from intimidating biodiversity boards for accessing biological resources or knowledge

• Research:

• It facilitates fast-tracking of research, simplifies the patent application process, decriminalises certain offences.

• Offences:

• Violations of the law related to access to biological resources and benefit-sharing with communities, which are currently treated as criminal offences and are non-bailable, have been proposed to be made civil offences.

• Investments: 

• To bring more foreign investments in biological resources, research, patent and commercial utilisation, without compromising the national interest.

Concerns

• Environmental organisations such as Legal Initiative for Forests and Environment (LIFE) have said that the amendments were made to “solely benefit” AYUSH firms and would pave the way for “bio piracy”.

• The Bill decriminalises a range of offences under the Act and substitutes them with monetary penalties.

• A member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee constituted in December 2021 to analyse the amendment Bill said that these exemptions could open the law for abuse.

• An analysis by the CSE and the Down To Earth magazine showed serious shortcomings like lack of data  on the money received from companies and traders for access and benefit-sharing from use of traditional knowledge and resources.

Way Ahead

• A thorough discussion on the provisions of the bill should be done.

• All the concerns raised by experts need to be addressed.

Solomon Islands and China

The Solomon Islands and China have reinforced their ties through agreements on police, economic, and technical cooperation. This comes after the Solomon Islands switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China in 2019. China aims to further expand relations and trade through initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative, fostering economic and geopolitical interests in the South Pacific. The growing partnership between the Solomon Islands and China draws attention to regional dynamics and raises implications for international relations.

GS3: Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management

ETHANOL 

For Prelims: Ethanol blended petrol programme, National Policy on Bio- fuels.

For Mains: Ethanol blending- significance, potential, challenges and solutions.

What is it?

Ethanol is basically alcohol of 99%-plus purity,

Also known as ethyl alcohol

Is a biofuel, produced from multiple sources such as sugarcane, wheat, biomass, corn etc.

Can be blended with petrol .

Benefits of ethanol blending:

1. Reduction in import dependency.

2. Support to agricultural sector.

3. Environmental friendly fuel.

4. Additional income to farmers.

Government programs-

Name- Ethanol Blending Program

Launched in- 2003

Aim- To promote the use of alternative and  environment friendly fuels.

Ministry responsible- Ministry of Oil Marketing Companies.

Challenges-

• Lack of integrated approach in the EBP across its value chain.

•  shortfall in supply of ethanol in the past, mainly on account of the cyclical nature of the sugarcane harvests in the country.

Conclusion-

Marine Heat Waves

Syllabus: GS3/Environment and Ecology

Why in the news?

Due to high temperature during this summer, led to marine heat waves(MHW).

What are marine heat waves?

• A marine heat wave is an extreme weather event. It occurs when the surface temperature of a particular region of the sea rises to 3 or 4 degree Celsius above the average temperature for at least five days. 

• MHWs can last for weeks, months or even years.

What Causes of MHWs?

Global warming:

• with the soaring global temperatures, MHWs have become longer-lasting, more frequent and intense in the past few decades

• 87 percent of MHWs are attributable to human induced warming.

Impact of MHW ?

Coral bleaching: Many marine animals depend on coral reefs for survival, damage to corals could, in turn, threaten their existence.

Threat to marine species: sudden and unexpected death of many fish or other aquatic animals over a short period and mainly within a particular area(MHWs along the Western Australian coast during the summer of 2010 and 2011 caused some “devastating” fish kills)

Destruction of  kelp forests: Kelps usually grow in cooler waters, providing habitat and food for many marine animals.MHWs change the ecosystem of the coast and lead to their destruction. 

How it impact humans?

The heat wave may cause a source of food to die off or migrate. Heat waves can also lead to toxic algae blooms that can kill fish. The events can affect humans, too4.

Stronger  storms like hurricanes and tropical cyclones:Higher ocean temperatures, leading to higher rates of evaporation.This results in more powerful winds, heavier rainfall and more flooding when storms reach the land — meaning heightened devastation for humans.

CONCLUSION-

Governments must invest in nature-based solutions and ambitiously reduce fossil-fuel-based emissions to limit the impacts of the climate crisis.

More research, better prediction and warning systems, and regional measures to build ocean resilience can help protect communities and ecosystems from MHWs.