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  • Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

    India’s Vulnerability to Drought

    IOCR | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    A United Nations report ‘Drought in Numbers’ has revealed that many parts of India fall under the list of regions that are vulnerable to drought globally.

    What are Droughts?

    • Drought is a prolonged dry period in the natural climate cycle that can occur anywhere in the world.
    • It is a slow-onset disaster characterized by the lack of precipitation, resulting in a water shortage.

    Types of Droughts

    • Meteorological drought is defined usually on the basis of the degree of dryness (in comparison to some “normal” or average amount) and the duration of the dry period.
    • Agricultural drought should be able to account for the variable susceptibility of crops during different stages of crop development, from emergence to maturity.
    • Hydrological drought is associated with the effects of periods of precipitation (including snowfall) shortfalls on surface or subsurface water supply (i.e. streamflow, reservoir and lake levels, and groundwater).
    • Socioeconomic drought is associated with the supply and demand of some economic goods with elements of meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural drought.

    What is the Drought in Numbers report?

    • The Drought in Numbers report is a collection of data on the effects of droughts on our ecosystem and how they can be mitigated through efficient planning for the future.
    • The report also helps inform negotiations surrounding key decisions by the UNCCD’s 197 member parties at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15), currently underway in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
    • Drought, land restoration, and related aspects such as land rights, gender equality and youth empowerment are among the top considerations at COP15.

    What is COP15?

    • The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP15 focuses on desertification, land degradation, and drought.
    • The theme for the conference is “Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity.”
    • The conference has brought together government representatives, private sector members, and civil society stakeholders to ensure that land continues to benefit present and future generations.

    What does the report entail?

    • The number and duration of droughts around the world has increased by an alarming 29% since 2000.
    • Globally, droughts in the same period caused economic losses of approximately $124 billion.
    • Drought conditions can force up to 216 million people to migrate by 2050.
    • Other factors at play along with drought could be water scarcity, declining crop productivity, rise in sea levels, and overpopulation.
    • The report also stated that India’s GDP reduced by 2 to 5% between 1998 and 2017 due to severe droughts in the country.

    Gendered impacts of drought

    • Research shows that women and girls in emerging and developing countries suffer more in terms of education levels, nutrition, health, sanitation, and safety as a result of droughts.
    • The burden of water collection also disproportionately falls on women (72%) and girls (9%).
    • The report notes that they may spend up to 40% of their caloric intake fetching water.

    What are the environmental aspects?

    • The largest increase in drought losses is projected in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic regions of Europe.
    • Australia’s megadrought in 2019-2020 contributed to “megafires” resulting in one of the most extensive losses of habitat for threatened species.
    • About three billion animals were killed or displaced in the Australian wildfires.
    • Around 12 million hectares of land are lost each year due to drought and desertification.

     

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  • Climate Change Negotiations – UNFCCC, COP, Other Conventions and Protocols

    What is Stockholm+50?

    IOCR | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    Stockholm+50 conference — a follow-on to the 1972 conference to be held in Stockholm from 2-3 June 2022 is the one that started the environmental movement we see today.

    What is Stockholm +50?

    • Stockholm +50 is an international environmental meeting hosted by the United Nations General Assembly to be held in Stockholm, Sweden from 2-3 June 2022.
    • The theme of Stockholm+50 is “a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity.
    • In 1972, the UN Conference on the Environment in Stockholm was held, and it was essentially the first conference that managed to address environmental issues on the right level.
    • Fifty years later, the United Nations is back in Stockholm to commemorate that important milestone.

    Significance: Establishment of UNEP

    • In 1972, some 122 countries attended, and participants adopted a series of principles on the environment, including the Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan for the Human Environment.
    • The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was created as a result of the conference.

    What is India’s connection with this?

    • Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in her seminal speech in the conference brought forward the connection between ecological management and poverty alleviation.
    • Her call remains as pertinent now as then: “We have to prove to the disinherited majority of the world that ecology and conservation will not work against their interest but will bring an improvement in their lives.”

    Why is Stockholm +50 important?

    • There was a lot of media attention around COP26 last year where world leaders gathered to continue the work to uphold the actions promised by the Paris Agreement, 2015.
    • Later this year, there will be COP27 in Egypt, where organizers will aim to make the conference a radical turning point in international climate efforts.

    What will be happening at Stockholm +50?

    • The event in the beginning of June will see representatives from around the world gather in Stockholm to discuss how to achieve a sustainable and inclusive future for all.
    • Stockholm +50 could usher in a much-needed new boost to environmental awareness and action for the next half-century, just as it did five decades ago.

     

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  • Roads, Highways, Cargo, Air-Cargo and Logistics infrastructure – Bharatmala, LEEP, SetuBharatam, etc.

    Places in news: Sela Tunnel

    National Parks/WS | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    The strategically-significant Sela Tunnel project in Arunachal Pradesh is nearing completion well before the deadline.

    What is Sela Tunnel Project?

    • The Sela Tunnel is the longest bi-lane road tunnel in the world.
    • The total length of the project, including the tunnels, the approach and the link roads, will be around 12 km.
    • The tunnel is being constructed by the Border Roads Organisation at an altitude of 13,800ft near the Indo-China border.
    • It is being built on the 317km long Balipara-Charduar-Tawang (BCT) road which connects West Kameng, East Kameng and Tawang districts of Arunachal Pradesh to the rest of the country.

    Why is the project important?

    • All-weather connectivity to Tawang and other forward areas in the sector will be the most important advantage that the project promises.
    • At the moment, Sela pass stays closed for a few winter months.
    • The project will provide a new alignment on the axis towards the LAC, and allow movement of military and civil vehicles all through the year.

    Significance of the tunnel

    • China is undertaking massive infrastructure development and troop build-up in the Rest of Arunachal Pradesh (RALP) area.
    • In military parlance, the RALP is an area in Arunachal Pradesh other than the Kameng area.
    • Other than the Kameng area consisting of East and West Kameng districts, the rest of the State is referred to by the Army as the RALP.

     

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  • Innovations in Biotechnology and Medical Sciences

    What is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)?

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    A team of scientists from Australia have found that babies at risk of the mysterious Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, generally have low levels of an enzyme called butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) in their blood.

    What is SIDS?

    • Sudden Infant Death Syndrome refers to the sudden and unexpected death of an otherwise healthy infant under the age of one, generally while they are sleeping.
    • Most SIDS-related deaths occur in infants between the age of 1-4 months.
    • According to the NHS website, parents can reduce the risk of SIDS by not smoking while pregnant or after the baby is born and ensuring that the baby is placed on their back when they sleep.
    • Some health experts have said that it is associated with issues in the part of an infant’s brain that controls breathing and waking up.

    Prevalence of SIDS

    • SIDS, also known as ‘cot death’, has claimed the lives of thousands of children across the West.
    • US estimates that about 3,400 babies die suddenly and unexpectedly every year.
    • Meanwhile, the United Kingdom reports about 200 such deaths annually.

    What does the new study say?

    • The study assessed whether there was something inherently different in babies that succumbed to SIDS.
    • The researchers compared dried blood samples from 655 healthy babies, 26 babies who died due to SIDS and 41 babies who died of other causes.
    • The team found that around nine of ten babies who died from SIDS had lower levels of BChE enzymes than the babies in the other two groups.

    What is the BChE (Butyrylcholinesterase) enzyme responsible for?

    • These enzymes are responsible for sending out signals that make a baby wake up, turn her head, or gasp for breath.
    • It is part of the autonomic system, and controls function like blood pressure and breathing.

     

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  • Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Global Implications

    A war that is shrinking India’s geopolitical options

    | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    Context

    What was initially assumed in New Delhi to be a quick confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, the war in Europe is now raging on with no end in sight, and with its long-term implications yet unknown.

    Why Ukraine war may reduce India’s options

    • For several weeks during late March and April, it seemed as though the Ukraine war presented a number of geopolitical options for New Delhi to choose from.
    • War may limit India’s options: Instead of enhancing New Delhi’s ability to make strategic choices in its broader region, the Ukraine war may actually limit the number of options available to New Delhi for at least three reasons.
    • 1]Absence of Russia for balancing purposes: Russia as a key strategic partner is no longer available to India for balancing purposes.
    • 2] Increased Chinese influence in the region:  Russia’s sudden absence from the Asian balance of power equations has further enhanced Chinese influence in the region.
    • By the time the war ends, whatever may be the shape of the global balance of power, the regional balance of power would have irretrievably shifted in Beijing’s favour.
    • 3] Indo-Pacific region moving out of focus: Given that the United States and its western partners are more interested on the Ukraine theatre today, their focus on China is already taking a hit, if not yet on the Indo-Pacific.

    India’s dilemmas in medium to long term

    1] Managing China

    • Weakened US influence in South Asia: While the Ukraine war has strengthened and revitalised the U.S.-led military and political coalition globally, it is bound to weaken the American influence in the Southern Asian region.
    • China is the biggest beneficiary of the U.S./western retrenchment from the region which gives it a free hand in it.
    • Russia not available: For New Delhi, Moscow is no longer available for its pursuit of its regional interests, and the U.S.’s ability to produce favourable geopolitical outcomes for India in the region is shrinking as well.
    • While there is little doubt that in the longer run, a war-fatigued and weakened Russia will become a junior partner to China, India today does have an opportunity to get Moscow to nudge Beijing to stop its irredentism on the LAC.
    • If the Chinese side, taking advantage of the Ukraine distraction, heats up the LAC, India would have to turn to the West and the U.S. for support (political, diplomatic, intelligence, etc.).
    • This would invariably hurt Russian interests. 
    • Russia, it is important that two of its Asian friends — China and India — do not clash at least while the war is still on.
    • While this may be a useful way to manage the Chinese aggression on the LAC in the short term, this will depend on how China views its dynamics with Russia and that of Russia with India.
    • Herein lies the challenge for India.
    • India’s engagement with Indo-Pacific region: If China were to stabilise the LAC at the nudging of Russia, it would also expect India to go slow on the Indo-Pacific, something India can ill-afford to do.
    • Inability to exploit contradictions: While, under normal circumstances, India could have utilised the many inherent contradictions between Moscow and Beijing, the Ukraine war has suspended those contradictions.

    2] How Ukraine war affected India’s north-western continental strategy

    • India’s north-western continental strategy, in particular towards Afghanistan and Central Asia, too will get complicated due to the Ukraine war.
    • For over a year now, the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan is calm and the violence in Kashmir has come down.
    • More pertinently, New Delhi’s presence from Afghanistan has entirely disappeared.
    • So, it appears that the calm in Kashmir and along the LoC is a quid pro quo for the Indian withdrawal from Afghanistan.
    • If this is a bargain New Delhi accepts, it will not only mean giving up its strategic interests in Afghanistan but also reducing its engagement in the Central Asian region as well at a time China is making feverish inroads into the region, right in the backyard of the Russian sphere of influence.
    • Had Moscow not been caught in the Ukraine war, it would have fended off Beijing’s attempts to take over its backyard (in one sense, China is doing to Russia using economic means what the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been doing to Russia using military means).
    • During the December summit, India and Russia had decided on a number of initiatives focusing on Central Asia and Afghanistan.
    • They are unlikely to be revived anytime soon, ceding further ground to China and Pakistan.

    Conclusion

    The combined geopolitical impact of the ill-timed U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russia’s Ukraine war, and the rapid expansion of Chinese influence goes to show how New Delhi’s geopolitical choices have suddenly shrunk due to the Ukraine war.

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    Ensuring a sustainable vaccination programme

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    Context

    COVID-19, which disrupted supply chains across countries and in India too, marks an inflection point in the trajectory of immunisation programmes.

    UIP: Showcasing India’s strength in managing large scale vaccination

    • India’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP), launched in 1985 to deliver routine immunisation, showcased its strengths in managing large-scale vaccine delivery.
    • This programme targets close to 2.67 crore newborns and 2.9 crore pregnant women annually.
    • Full immunisation: To strengthen the programme’s outcomes, in 2014, Mission Indradhanush was introduced to achieve full immunisation coverage of all children and pregnant women at a rapid pace — a commendable initiative.
    • India’s UIP comprises upwards of 27,000 functional cold chain points of which 750 (3%) are located at the district level and above; the remaining 95% are located below the district level.
    • The COVID-19 vaccination efforts relied on the cold chain infrastructure established under the UIP to cover 87 crore people with two doses of the vaccine and over 100 crore with at least a single dose.

    Why strong service delivery network is essential?

    • While we have, over the years, set up a strong service delivery network, the pandemic showed us that there were weak links in the chain, especially in the cold chain.
    • Nearly half the vaccines distributed around the world go to waste, in large part due to a failure to properly control storage temperatures.
    • In India, close to 20% of temperature-sensitive healthcare products arrive damaged or degraded because of broken or insufficient cold chains, including a quarter of vaccines.
    • Wastage has cost implications and can delay the achievement of immunisation targets.

    Measures and initiatives in strengthening vaccine supply chains

    • The Health Ministry has been digitising the vaccine supply chain network in recent years through the use of cloud technology, such as with the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN).
    • Developed with support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and implemented by the UN Development Programme through a smartphone-based app, the platform digitises information on vaccine stocks and temperatures across the country.
    • This supports healthcare workers in the last mile in supervising and maintaining the efficiency of the vaccine cold chain.

    Way forward

    • Electrification: There is a need to improve electrification, especially in the last mile, for which the potential of solar-driven technology must be explored to integrate sustainable development.
    • For instance, in Chhattisgarh, 72% of the functioning health centres have been solarised to tackle the issue of regular power outages.
    • This has significantly reduced disruption in service provision and increased the uptake of services.

    Conclusion

    India has pioneered many approaches to ensure access to public health services at a scale never seen before. Robust cold chain systems are an investment in India’s future pandemic preparedness; by taking steps towards actionable policies that improve the cold chain, we have an opportunity to lead the way in building back better and stronger.

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  • Freedom of Speech – Defamation, Sedition, etc.

    On Section 124A Supreme Court has aligned itself with the collective conscience

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary,Parliament & State Legislatures

    Context

    The Supreme Court’s seminal intervention in a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of section 124A of the Indian Penal Code is a watershed moment in the progressive expansion of human rights jurisprudence.

    Abuse of sedition law

    • The slapping of sedition charges against political opponents and others in Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have confirmed that the abuse of the sedition law is no longer an aberration.
    • It has become a norm that has hollowed out the constitutional guarantee of fundamental rights and exposed individuals to the rigour of draconian laws unjustly invoked, outraging national sensitivities as never before.

    Significance of the move

    • In what is seen as a first in judicial history, the Supreme Court has virtually rendered redundant the provision of a criminal law without expressly declaring it as unconstitutional.
    • In an example of judicial statecraft, the court has shielded individuals against a harsh law without trenching on Parliament’s legislative remit or the executive’s command over policy decisions.
    • Plenary jurisdiction: Exercising plenary jurisdiction, the Supreme Court is expected to see through its suggestions/orders to the government, particularly when these concern the non-negotiable fundamental rights of citizens.
    • Suggestive jurisdiction: As an organ of the state, the Supreme Court’s suggestive jurisdiction is clearly in accord with its declared law (Nagaraj, 2006) that the state (of which the court is an integral constituent), is under a duty not only to protect individual rights but is also obliged to facilitate the same.
    • Validating the nations role: The court-inspired initiatives would also validate the nation’s preeminent role in the shaping of a new world order.

    Implications of the law

    • Nudging the government towards anti-lynching law: As with the sedition law, it can nudge the government to enact an anti-lynching humanitarian law as suggested by it and a comprehensive law against custodial torture.
    •  Law against custodial torture: The absence of an anti-custodial torture law, a glaring gap in the architecture of the criminal justice system, is inexplicable considering the command of Article 21, recommendations of the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha (2010), the Law Commission of India (2017) and the Human Rights Commission and the judgments of the Supreme Court (Puttaswamy, 2017; Jeeja Ghosh, 2016; and Shabnam, 2015).
    • Implications for the UAPA: It is expected likewise from the court to intervene suitably and read down the UAPA and other criminal laws that have been repeatedly misused to trample upon the civil liberties and rights of the people.

    Conclusion

    This is indeed the moment to seize, as the government reviews the nation’s legal structures. The initiatives suggested above are in aid of democracy anchored in the inviolability of human rights and would enhance India’s soft power in our engagement with the international community.

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  • AYUSH – Indian Medicine System

    Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021

    | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    What is issue:

    A senior parliamentarian has expressed concern over the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which is in the final stages of consultations in the Joint Parliamentary Committee.

    Biological Diversity Act (BDA), 2002: 

    • The BDA, 2002 was enacted for the conservation of biological diversity and fair, equitable sharing of the monetary benefits from the commercial use of biological resources and traditional knowledge.
    • The main intent of this legislation is to protect India’s rich biodiversity and associated knowledge against their use by foreign individuals.
    • It seeks to check biopiracy, protect biological diversity and local growers through a three-tier structure of central and state boards and local committees.
    • The Act provides for setting up of a National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) in local bodies.
    • The NBA will enjoy the power of a civil court.

    What are the proposed Amendments?

    The amendment bill seeks to reduce the pressure on wild medicinal plants by encouraging the cultivation of medicinal plants and Decriminalizes certain offences.

    • Biological resources sharing: Exempts Ayush practitioners from intimating biodiversity boards for accessing biological resources or knowledge (Vaids and Hakims)
    • Research promotion: Facilitates fast-tracking of research, simplify the patent application process
    • Bring in foreign investment: Seeks to bring more foreign investments in biological resources, research, patent and commercial utilisation, without compromising the national interest

    Need for the Amendment

    • Simplifying process: Concerns were raised by Ayush medicine, seed, industry and research sectors urging the government to simplify, streamline the profession.
    • Easing compliance: They urged govt to reduce the compliance burden to provide for a conducive environment for collaborative research and investments.
    • Access and Benefit-sharing: It also sought to simplify the patent application process, widen the scope of access and benefit-sharing with local communities.
    • Exemptions: Ayush practitioners have been exempted from the ambit of the Act, a huge move because the Ayush industry benefits greatly from biological resources in India.
    • Certain offences: Violations of the law related to benefit-sharing with communities, which are currently treated as criminal offences and are non-bailable, have been proposed to be made civil offences.
    • Imbibing Nagoya Protocol: This bill provides to reconcile the domestic law with free prior informed consent requirements of the 2010 Nayogya Protocol on ABS.

    Criticisms of the bill

    • No consultation: The bill has been introduced without seeking public comments as required under the pre-legislative consultative policy.
    • No profit-sharing: There are ambiguous provisions in the proposed amendment to protect, conserve or increase the stake of local communities in the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity.
    • Commercialization: Activists say that the amendments were done to “solely benefit” the AYUSH Ministry.
    • Loopholes to Biopiracy: The Bill would mean AYUSH manufacturing companies would no longer need to take approvals.
    • Ignoring Bio-utilization: The bill has excluded the term Bio-utilization which is an important element in the Act.  Leaving out bio utilization would leave out an array of activities like characterization, incentivisation and bioassay which are undertaken with commercial motive.
    • Exotic plants cultivation: The bill also exempts cultivated medicinal plants from the purview of the Act but it is practically impossible to detect which plants are cultivated and which are from the wild.
    • De-licensing: This provision could allow large companies to evade the requirement for prior approval or share the benefit with local communities.

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  • Industrial Sector Updates – Industrial Policy, Ease of Doing Business, etc.

    India’s Total Factor Productivity (TFP)

    | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    India’s total factor productivity (TFP) growth has seen a moderate decline compared to the global experience, though it remains above that of emerging markets and developing economies, according to a recent report.

    What is Total factor productivity (TFP)?

    • Productivity levels measure the relationship between total products or output, and inputs or factors of production employed.
    • Labour productivity is a measure of total output divided by the units of labour employed in the process of production.
    • However, TFP is a measure of total output divided by a weighted average of inputs; i.e., labour and capital.
    • Improvements in TFP bring down production costs, raise output levels, and lead to a higher gross domestic product.
    • While total productivity measures all-inclusive productivity, TFP is a measure of production efficiency.

    How has India fared thus far?

    • A recent Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report points to a moderate decline in TFP growth compared to the global experience.
    • TFP growth rate for India during the 2010-2019 period was approximately 2.2%, as against -0.3% for emerging markets and developing economies.
    • During the pandemic, the TFP for India declined by 2.9% in 2020 and marginally improved by 0.1% in 2021.
    • In 2022, TFP growth rate is projected to increase to 2%.
    • As per estimates, TFP growth contributed to 30% of India’s GDP growth during 2010-2018.
    • It was largely driven by public administration, quality education and social works.

    What has been the TFP trend across the world?

    • Global productivity growth has witnessed a prolonged slowdown since 2010, with the deceleration sharper in emerging and developing economies.
    • This is ascribed to a weakening investment climate, and lower employment growth levels in developed economies, among others.
    • TFP growth for the world economy was 0.7% in 2021 and may shrink by 0.5% in 2022.

    What are the ways to improve TFP?

    • India’s initiatives around skill development and the new education policy are steps in the right direction, since they focus on boosting manpower employability.
    • Quality education, better healthcare, nurturing of innovation, introduction of efficient technology and processes in domestic companies and reduction in misallocation of resources can help improve TFP levels.
    • Though the country’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index, 2021 has improved to 46, it still has some distance to go.

    How can the industry improve productivity?

    • Improved TFP minimizes per-unit cost facilitating the horizontal expansion of consumption demand, thereby improving the standard of living.
    • Employers have fortunately started acknowledging the fact that manpower is an essential component in profit earnings.
    • Today, the focus has shifted to retaining talent, which is limited in supply.
    • This positive transformation seen after the pandemic needs to be further extended.

     

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  • Forest Conservation Efforts – NFP, Western Ghats, etc.

    Highlights of the Seoul Forest Declaration

    IOCR | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    The participants from 141 countries gathered in person and online at the 15th World Forestry Congress in Seoul, Republic of Korea adopted the Seoul Forest Declaration.

    Seoul Forest Declaration

    • Shared responsibility: The Declaration urges that responsibility for forests should be shared and integrated across institutions, sectors and stakeholders.
    • Increased investment: Investment in forest and landscape restoration globally needs to triple by 2030 to meet internationally agreed commitments and targets on restoring degraded land.
    • Moving towards circular economy: One of the key takeaways was the importance of moving towards a circular bioeconomy and climate neutrality.
    • Innovative green financing mechanisms: To upscale investment in forest conservation, restoration and sustainable use, and highlighted the potential of sustainably produced wood as a renewable, recyclable and versatile material.
    • Decision-making: It urged the continued development and use of emerging innovative technologies and mechanisms to enable evidence-based forest and landscape decision-making.

    Other takeaways

    • Close cooperation among nations is needed to address challenges that transcend political boundaries.
    • This was strengthened at the Congress by the launch of new partnerships such as the:
    1. Assuring the Future of Forests with Integrated Risk Management (AFFIRM) Mechanism and
    2. Sustaining an Abundance of Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) Initiative

    Back2Basics: World Forestry Congress

    • The first World Forestry Congress first held in Rome in 1926. After that, it is held about every six years by the UN-FAO.
    • In 1954, FAO was entrusted with supporting Congress preparations in close cooperation with the host country and proudly continues to do so today. .
    • It has been providing a forum for inclusive discussion on the key challenges and way forward for the forestry sector.

     

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