INDIA. New Delhi: At a ceremony held between the French and Indian governments on 7 October in New Delhi, India officially joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, a group of more than 70 countries encouraging the adoption of the global goal to protect 30×30.
HAC members currently include a mix of countries in the global north and south; European, Latin American, Africa, and Asia countries are among the members. India is the first of the BRICS bloc of major emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) to join the HAC.
India’s announcement comes in the lead up to a high-level biodiversity meeting, hosted by China. The virtual meeting to take place between 11-15 October will tackle key aspects of the biodiversity treaty to be finalized in 2022. The global 30×30 goal is currently a centerpiece of the treaty.
Shri Rameshwar Prasad Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India handed over the signed HAC agreement to H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India in a ceremony held today.
Expressing delight on India joining member countries of HAC, Shri Gupta said that resource mobilisation will always be the cornerstone for implementation of policies and programs for conserving biodiversity and said India would ensure all support in meeting the global biodiversity targets.
Welcoming India’s decision to join the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, which was initiated at the “One Planet Summit” in Paris in January 2021, Mr. Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India said that on the eve of the opening of COP15, India joining the High Ambition Coalition is a real game-changer and will boost our multilateral efforts. Stating that India is a major player in biodiversity protection, the French ambassador informed that this coalition aims to promote an international agreement to protect at least 30 % the of world’s land and ocean by 2030.
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