India’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday passed an amendment to its 2002 biodiversity act amid concerns the bill weakens regulatory oversight and will make it harder for the mega biodiverse country to meet its targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
The bill, originally introduced to parliament in 2021, will help India contribute to solving the triple crisis of climate change, desertification, and loss of biological resources, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav told the Lok Sabha.
“The biological diversity act is meant for sustainable use of biological components and fair and equitable sharing of benefits with vulnerable communities,” the minister said, according to Hindustan Times.
However, the list of complaints over the amendments is long, with critics saying the bill is making it easier for many groups to profiteer from nature without having to share benefits with local communities.
That goes especially for practitioners of Ayush, a plant-based traditional form of practice medicine in India.
Under the amended bill, Ayush practitioners are exempted from restrictions applying to “codified traditional knowledge” and will not have to share proceeds with the local communities that manage the land where their plants are found.
Many critics have suggested that desire to benefit Ayush was a major motivation for the government to amend the bill, though Yadav said Tuesday it was a matter of simplifying procedures.
“We wish to promote ease of doing business. Under Ayush, use of biological resources was promoted by the government. We want research, cooperation, and innovation in this sector. We want to promote ease of doing business and living,” he said.
But observers have also criticised the bill for weakening India’s options to sanction those who violate the regulations outlined in the bill.
All types of abuse or wrongdoings under the regulations have been decriminalised in the amended bill, leaving regulators with fines as their only available sanction, while the National Biodiversity Authority has lost the authority to initiate police investigations related to violations.
Under the new regulations, all Indian companies will be allowed to make use of biodiversity resources without permission, which needs only to be sought by foreign-controlled entities.
When the bill was first introduced to parliament it was assigned to a joint committee because many thought it was too pro-business, but it was passed on to committee almost without any comment despite a wide range of experts and activists voicing strong opposition.
With India being one of just 17 nations worldwide classified as biological megadiverse, critics have raised concerns that the country is passing up the opportunity to lead the developed world in implementing the GBF adopted in Montreal late last year.
During the Monsoon session, the current parliamentary session that will last until Aug. 11, parliament will also vote on an amendment of its forest conservation bill, which has sparked equal concerns.
The forestry bill removes a number of restrictions on forest clearing, and introduces a provision that allows the government to make any changes it might find necessary for security reasons to forested areas within 100 kilometres of India’s international borders.
By Stian Reklev – stian@carbon-pulse.com
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