World Came Together For Glasgow Leaders¡¯ Declaration On Forests And Land Use, India Stayed Out
Over 100 countries including the US, Russia, China and Brazil on Tuesday signed the Glasgow Leaders¡¯ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, an initiative launched by the United Kingdom to protect and restore the earth's forests and end deforestation by 2030 at the COP26 climate summit.
One of the most notable absentees, however, was India, due to reported concerns around linkages made in the final text with trade.
Other than India, Argentina, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and South Africa are the G20 countries that did not sign the declaration.
The text of the final declaration covers transformative action in the interconnected areas of sustainable production and consumption; infrastructure development; trade; finance and investment; and support for smallholders and local communities.
We will strengthen our shared efforts to facilitate trade and development policies, internationally and domestically, that promote sustainable development, and sustainable commodity production and consumption, that work to countries' mutual benefit, and that do not drive deforestation and land degradation, the text notes in reference to trade which is likely to have caused some concern on the Indian side.
?¡°Recognise that to meet our land use, climate, biodiversity and sustainable development goals, both globally and nationally, will require transformative further action in the interconnected areas of sustainable production and consumption; infrastructure development; trade; finance and investment; and support for smallholders, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, who depend on forests for their livelihoods and have a key role in their stewardship,¡± it said.
But according to India, the declaration interlinks trade to climate change and forest issues. Trade falls under the WTO and should not be brought under climate change declarations and wanted the word ¡°trade¡± to be removed.
The issue of deforestation in India is a hotly contested one. The government has repeatedly said that the tree cover and forest cover in India have increased over the past few years.
However, environmentalists have long pointed out that the government is busy diluting existing environmental protections to open them up for mining and other infrastructure projects that will alter the forests, wildlife, and the people living around it forever.
Last month so 350 people from tribal villages in Hasdeo Arand forest area spanning Korba and Sarguja districts of?Chhattisgarh?had marched for ten days to the capital to protest against a mining project that will affect their lives and livelihoods.
The ¡®Hasdeo Bachao Padyatra¡¯ that began on October 3 from Fatehpur in Ambikapur of Sarguja district covered over 300 kms on its way to Raipur.
They are demanding the cancellation of all coal mining projects in the region, stating that permissions granted were illegal and that the damage caused would be irreparable.
According to Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, the Hasdeo Aranya region is the state¡¯s ¡°lungs¡± and allowing coal mining there will have an adverse effect on the ecology and the livelihoods of the locals, who fear that their land will be taken over for the project.
Hasdeo Arand, one of central India's largest intact forests, is home to indigenous people, including the Gond tribe, and has a rich biodiversity with an elephant corridor cutting through it.
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