Exploring the Biological Diversity Amendment Act of 2023
India's Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2023: Controversies and Concerns
The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2023, introduced in Parliament on December 16, 2021, by Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, aims to streamline regulations, promote ease of doing business, and address concerns raised by various stakeholders. However, the bill has sparked debates and concerns over its impact on biodiversity conservation, enforcement mechanisms, and equitable benefit-sharing.
One of the contentious aspects of the bill is the decriminalisation of offences under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. Critics argue that replacing imprisonment with monetary penalties for most violations may reduce the deterrent effect against biodiversity offenses. The enforcement-related roles of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs), and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) remain poorly defined, limiting their ability to monitor, assess, and act on biodiversity threats effectively.
Another concern revolves around the focus on Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) over conservation. The Amendment emphasizes access and benefit-sharing obligations, including new inclusion of Digital Sequence Information (DSI), while biodiversity conservation measures are insufficiently addressed in concrete enforcement terms. This imbalance worries conservationists who fear that sustainable use and protection of biodiversity are sidelined in favor of regulatory compliance related to resource access.
Simplification vs. Equity is another issue at hand. The Amendment eases compliance burdens for startups, MSMEs, AYUSH companies, and exempts traditional knowledge practitioners from ABS obligations to encourage innovation and traditional knowledge use. While this may foster economic activity, some stakeholders raise concerns that it could dilute benefit-sharing equity, especially for local and indigenous communities who traditionally safeguard biodiversity and associated knowledge.
The bill also broadens the scope to explicitly include modern uses like value-added products and digital knowledge, raising complex questions about how benefits from such uses are shared equitably. The regulation and monitoring of these non-traditional forms of biological resource use remain challenging.
The proposed amendments have raised concerns about equitable benefit-sharing and the protection of indigenous knowledge holders' rights. The bill aligns the definition of foreign-controlled companies with existing laws like the Companies Act, 2013. The bill also seeks to encourage the cultivation of medicinal plants in Indian systems of medicine.
However, the exemption of certain users, including practitioners of Indian systems of medicine, from benefit-sharing obligations raises apprehensions about equitable distribution of benefits among local communities and traditional knowledge holders. The bill proposes to replace criminal penalties with monetary fines, potentially weakening enforcement mechanisms and failing to deter illegal activities effectively.
Transparent decision-making processes and meaningful stakeholder engagement are essential for ensuring accountability, fostering public trust, and promoting informed decision-making in biodiversity conservation initiatives. The impact of these controversies affects biodiversity conservation by weakening enforcement capacity and shifting focus predominantly to regulatory compliance over proactive conservation. At the same time, benefit-sharing mechanisms face the challenge of balancing reduced compliance burdens and support for innovation with the fair and equitable inclusion of biodiversity custodians and local communities. These issues need careful resolution to ensure that the Amendment supports both biodiversity protection and just sharing of benefits derived from India’s biological resources.
Due to concerns regarding potential contradictions with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the bill was referred to a joint committee for further examination and review. The joint committee submitted its report to Parliament on August 2, 2022, recommending certain amendments to address stakeholder concerns. The future of the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2023, lies in its ability to address these concerns and maintain a balance between economic growth and biodiversity conservation while ensuring fair and equitable benefit-sharing.
The bill's decriminalization of offenses may reduce deterrent effects against biodiversity offenses, according to critics. The roles of the National Biodiversity Authority, State Biodiversity Boards, and Biodiversity Management Committees are under-defined, limiting their effective monitoring and action.
Critics fear that the bill's focus on Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) may shift focus from biodiversity conservation towards regulatory compliance related to resource access. The bill eases compliance burdens for startups, MSMEs, AYUSH companies, but may dilute benefit-sharing equity among local communities and traditional knowledge holders.
Benefit-sharing mechanisms seek to balance reduced compliance burdens and support for innovation with the fair and equitable inclusion of biodiversity custodians and local communities. Transparent decision-making processes and stakeholder engagement are essential to foster public trust and informed decision-making.
Complex questions arise about how benefits from modern uses like value-added products and digital knowledge are shared equitably, with regulation and monitoring proving challenging. The bill proposes to replace criminal penalties with monetary fines, potentially weakening enforcement mechanisms.
India's Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill aligns the definition of foreign-controlled companies with existing laws like the Companies Act, 2013, and encourages Medicinal plants cultivation in Indian systems of medicine. However, the bill's exemption of certain users, including practitioners of Indian systems of medicine, from benefit-sharing obligations raises apprehensions about equitable distribution of benefits.
The bill's future depends on its ability to address concerns, maintain a balance between economic growth and biodiversity conservation, and ensure fair and equitable benefit-sharing. These concerns have led to the bill being referred to a joint committee for further examination and review.
Impacts on biodiversity conservation are significant as weakened enforcement and increased focus on regulatory compliance can weaken proactive conservation efforts. The balance between economic growth and biodiversity conservation is a challenging task, requiring careful resolution to support both protection and benefit-sharing of India's biological resources.
The bill's controversies and concerns highlight the need for responsible gambling in all aspects of Indian policy, not just in gambling-related matters like casino-and-gambling, casino-games, gambling-trends, and policy-and-legislation. Decision-makers should consider responsible-gambling principles in their approach to ensure lifelong-learning and responsible use of the country's resources.
Science plays a crucial role in these deliberations, with the help of environmental-science, climate-change research, and education-and-self-development. Personal-growth, goal-setting, and skills-training, often associated with mindfulness and self-improvement, can help bridge the gap between economic growth and biodiversity conservation.
In the context of business and career-development, ethical leadership, and productive actions are essential for creating a sustainable and equitable future. In a broader sense, the debates over the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill reflect the complex interplay between policy-and-legislation, politics, and general-news, echoing broader societal challenges like crime-and-justice, accidents, learning, and job-search.
For instance, just as in the world of casino-culture, players in blackjack and poker strive for big-wins while adhering to responsible-gambling practices. Similarly, the champions-league in football, the NFL, soccer, WNBA, baseball, hockey, European leagues, basketball, NCAABasketball, MLB, NHL, Premier League, American football, NBA, Serie A, LaLiga, NCAAFootball, and Tennis are not just about winning games but also embodying fair play, teamwork, and sportsmanship.
In conclusion, the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill has far-reaching implications for the environment, empowers learning opportunities in environmental-science, climate-change, and education-and-self-development, and highlights the importance of responsible-gambling principles in policy-making. nurturing personal-growth, productive actions, and ethical leadership will be critical in achieving a sustainable, equitable future.
