India can comfortably achieve 30X30 biodiversity target: COP15 delegate.

• India has about 27 per cent of its area under conservation and can comfortably reach the target of protecting 30 per cent of land and water by 2030, according to a senior delegate negotiating for the country at the COP15 biodiversity conference here in Canada.
• According to the J Justin Mohan, the Secretary of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), that India is already a member of the High Ambition Coalition (HAC), a group of 113 countries that aims at bringing 30 per cent of the geographical area under conservation by 2030, also known as 30X30 target.
• With our protective area network comprising reserved forests, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, mangroves, Ramsar sites, eco-sensitive zones, and community reserves, India has already achieved about 27 per cent of the area under conservation.
• India is focusing on more areas to be brought under conservation through biodiversity heritage sites and Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMS). India can comfortably achieve the targets of 30X30 in 2030.

What is 30×30 target?

• In the spirit of Stockholm+50, to build on 50 years of multilateral environmental action to achieve the urgent action needed to secure a healthy planet, the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People is taking concrete steps towards moving into a new phase to support implementation of the global goal to protect at least 30 per cent of the world’s land and at least 30 per cent of the world’s ocean by 2030.
• The 30×30 target is a global target, which aims to halt the accelerating loss of species, and protect vital ecosystems that are the source of our economic security.
• The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, which is now supported by nearly 100 countries, is evolving into a new phase to support implementation of the global goal.
• The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People was officially launched in January 2021 at the One Planet Summit (OPS) on biodiversity. The coalition is currently co-chaired by France and Costa Rica, with the United Kingdom as ocean co-chair.
• India joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People in October 2021.
• Adopting a global ‘30×30’ target within a new post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is a key part of the solution to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
• The HAC for N&P will continue to work, together with all Parties, towards the adoption of this target at the CBD’s fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP15) later this year.
• It currently works closely with the Global Ocean Alliance on the 30×30 target, as well as with the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature.

Why 30×30?

• In order to address both the biodiversity crisis and the climate crisis, there is growing scientific research that half of the planet must be kept in a natural state. Some papers have suggested that the number should be even higher, and some have suggested slightly lower.
• Despite this, experts agree that a scientifically credible and necessary interim goal is to achieve a minimum of 30 per cent protection by 2030.
• There is a wealth of scientific data documenting the need for increased spatial targets in order to help achieve goals related to biodiversity conservation, which help justify the 30×30 target both at a global level and a regional level.
• When the Aichi Targets were established in 2010, roughly 13 per cent of the world’s terrestrial areas were protected while very few protections existed in the ocean.
• Currently, an estimated 15 per cent of the world’s land and 7 per cent of the ocean are protected. In order to achieve the goal of protecting at least 30 per cent by 2030, we will need to double the current land protections and more than quadruple current ocean protections.