PIB TrackerIndia's Yerevan statement: 23 targets, 142 indicators, finance owed
At the high-level segment of the biodiversity COP in Armenia, India set out its record and its terms: national circumstances, finance and technology from developed countries, and a multilateral route for genetic-data benefits.
What happened
- Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav delivered India's National Statement at the High-Level Segment of CBD COP-17 in Yerevan, Armenia, reaffirming India's commitment to conserving biodiversity and to 'living in harmony with nature'.
- He said implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework must align with national priorities, circumstances and legislation, supported by adequate and predictable finance, capacity-building and technology transfer from developed countries.
- India supported benefit-sharing from digital sequence information (DSI) through the multilateral mechanism, including the Cali Fund, and advocated a science-based, risk-proportionate and precautionary approach to synthetic biology and biosafety.
- India's updated NBSAP sets 23 National Biodiversity Targets and 142 indicators; the estate includes 1,134 Protected Areas, 103 Ramsar sites, 57 Biodiversity Heritage Sites and 18 Biosphere Reserves, 13 of them in UNESCO's MAB network.
- He cited the International Big Cat Alliance, MISHTI (mangroves), Amrit Dharohar (wetlands), the Soil Health Card Scheme, Mission LiFE and Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam, and village-level committees for decentralised access and benefit sharing.
For Prelims
- CBD: opened for signature at the Rio Earth Summit on 5 June 1992, in force from 29 December 1993; three objectives - conservation, sustainable use, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources. COP-17: Yerevan, 19-30 October 2026; high-level segment 27-28 October.
- Kunming-Montreal GBF: adopted at COP-15 (Montreal, December 2022) with 23 global targets for 2030, including '30 by 30' (Target 3: conserve 30 per cent of land and inland waters, and of coastal and marine areas). India's updated NBSAP mirrors it with 23 national targets, released at COP-16 in Cali.
- DSI and the Cali Fund: DSI is genetic sequence data used without moving the physical sample. The Cali Fund, agreed at COP-16 and launched on 25 February 2025, expects large commercial users of DSI to contribute an indicative 1 per cent of profits or 0.1 per cent of revenue; the contribution is not a legal obligation.
- Biosphere Reserves: India has 18, of which 13 are in UNESCO's World Network under the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme - a UNESCO designation layered over national law. Protected Areas (1,134) - national parks, sanctuaries, conservation and community reserves - are notified under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- Biodiversity Heritage Sites (57) are notified by State Governments, in consultation with local bodies, under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. Ramsar sites (103) are wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, 1971 - up from 26 in 2014, per PIB's 25 October backgrounder.
- International Big Cat Alliance: launched by the PM on 9 April 2023 at Mysuru, marking 50 years of Project Tiger, for the seven big cats - tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, cheetah, jaguar and puma. India is home to five; the jaguar and puma are not found here.
- MISHTI = Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes; Amrit Dharohar = wetland conservation through community participation; the Soil Health Card scheme was cited under sustainable soil management. India also cited Mission LiFE and Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam as public-participation campaigns.
- Synthetic biology: India's ask is a precautionary, risk-proportionate approach - regulate by evidence of risk rather than ban or permit wholesale. Biosafety for living modified organisms is governed internationally by the CBD's Cartagena Protocol (2000).
For UPSC: CBD COP-17 = Yerevan, Armenia, 19-30 Oct 2026. India's NBSAP: 23 targets, 142 indicators; 1,134 PAs, 103 Ramsar, 57 BHS, 18 BRs (13 UNESCO MAB); backs Cali Fund.
What it is NOT: A national statement is a position, not an outcome: the release says nothing about what COP-17 is negotiating or deciding, where India stands on resource-mobilisation targets, or how much the Cali Fund has actually raised. India's progress is reported as a count of designations, not against the GBF's own indicators - no figure for the area under Protected Areas and OECMs against the 30 per cent target, no species trend, and no progress report on the updated NBSAP since Cali. The 'village-level committees' are neither named nor counted, and no finance figure - India's own or what it seeks - is given.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS3.14 · GS2.20 · Linkage L2
Anchor
India's biodiversity diplomacy runs on the same two tracks as its climate diplomacy: report a large domestic record, and insist that the global framework bend to national circumstances and be paid for by those with the means. Yerevan was a restatement of both.
Substantiation (data)
An updated NBSAP with 23 national targets and 142 indicators; 1,134 Protected Areas, 103 Ramsar sites, 57 Biodiversity Heritage Sites and 18 Biosphere Reserves, 13 in UNESCO's network - and a demand for adequate, predictable finance and technology transfer from developed countries.
Position
India's position is that the Kunming-Montreal framework is a shared goal implemented through national plans and laws; that benefits from digital sequence information should flow through a multilateral fund rather than bilateral contracts; and that synthetic biology needs precaution in proportion to risk.
Counterpoint
Counting designations is not the same as reporting outcomes. The statement gives no area figure against the '30 by 30' target, no species or habitat trend and no number for India's own biodiversity spending, which makes its call for finance from others harder to weigh.
Way forward
Report the NBSAP's 142 indicators publicly on a timetable; publish the area under Protected Areas and OECMs against Target 3; and strengthen the local committees that handle access and benefit sharing - the link between a fund like Cali and the communities whose knowledge it is meant to reward.
Conclusion
Yerevan tested whether the 2022 framework can move from targets to money. India's statement is clear about who should pay; the stronger case for that position is a domestic report card measured in outcomes, not in the number of sites designated.
Deploys into: Biodiversity governance and the Kunming-Montreal GBF · Access and benefit sharing and DSI · Means of implementation and equity · Protected-area networks
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change · 2026-10-27 · PRID 2328896 · PIB source ↗