EU Biodiversity outreach in India:
‘Biodiversity means Life’
This campaign by EU is a “People to People” diplomacy initiative encouraging mutual understanding and cultural exchanges between European and Indian civil society, in its broadest sense: citizens, creators, think tanks, academia, private sector, … anyone really, with an interest in nature and biodiversity, as the rock-bottom foundation of sustainable development.
Biodiversity is of course a bilateral, economic and political topic for dialogue between India and the EU.
In scientific terms, biodiversity means the “biological variety and variability of life on Earth, at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels”. In other words, it’s the diversity of shapes, sizes, colours, landscapes, animals, microbes, mushrooms and plants we observe in nature all around us, all different yet all complementary and interdependent.
The rapid loss of biodiversity can be looked at as a major and fast approaching “planetary boundary”, i.e. a vital yet compromised component in the life-support systems of “Spaceship Earth”. It is therefore the object of a United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (the CBD), whose Parties (most countries on the planet) will soon meet for their 15th Conference since 1994 (“COP15”).
However, the “Biodiversity means LIFE”, EU outreach strategy rather aims at illustrating :
- The pragmatic, collective, socio-economic benefits of protecting, valuing and restoring biodiversity in land use and coastal areas, green infrastructures and nature based solutions.
- The personal, intimate, cultural and emotional relationship many of us feel with “Mother Nature”, and the amenity/well-being benefits of being an active part of those solutions.
We’d like to convey this more positive narrative through this website, social media, and an open ended collection of virtual events and deliverables (documents, videos, graphic creation, games, songs…), based on YOUR IDEAS, the support of our many partners, and like-minded EU or Indian initiatives.
Please join them and #LeadTheGreenChange you want to see in the world! Browse this micro-site, take part in events, co-organise one, spread the word: sky and imagination are the limits!
Business Support to the EU-India Policy
The Business Support to the EU-India Policy Dialogues Project supports the implementation of the new EU strategy on India, which was adopted in December 2018. The project strives to increase business involvement in strategic areas of bilateral cooperation in order to reinforce the already strong partnership between the European Union and India. These key areas are derived from on-going policy dialogues between the EU and India, such as Environment, Energy, Climate, ICT and Urbanisation and hold relevant/ real-time opportunities for EU businesses interested in entering the Indian market.
Launched in February 2019, the project is led by GFA Consulting Group GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) in consortium with EBTC – European Business and Technology Centre (New Delhi, India), implementation partner India and EUROCHAMBRES (Brussels, Belgium), implementation partner Europe.
The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity
The TEEBAgriFood initiative seeks to provide a comprehensive economic evaluation of the “eco-agri-food systems” complex, and demonstrate that the economic environment in which farmers operate is distorted by significant externalities, both negative and positive, and a lack of awareness of dependency on natural, human and social capital. TEEBAgriFood brings together scientists, economists, policymakers, business leaders, and farmers organizations in order to frame, undertake and use holistic evaluations of agricultural systems, practices, products, policy scenarios against a comprehensive range of impacts and dependencies across food value chains. It makes and illustrates the case for “systems thinking” instead of “silo thinking” when evaluating eco-agri-food systems.
The below diagram illustrates the interrelationships and interdependencies (many of which are economically invisible) between human systems, agriculture and food systems, and natural systems. This is the broad and complex space in which TEEBAgriFood operates, seeking to better recognize, demonstrate and capture the full range of impacts and dependencies in order to reform policy to improve human livelihoods, human well-being and human health.
Visit: http://teebweb.org/
Global Business Inroads (GBI)
Global Business Inroads (GBI) is an international business, technology and innovation management consultancy, based in India, Europe, UK, USA and SE Asia that is specialized in technology access and deployment focused on sectors related to the UNSDGs, including Biodiversity. GBI assists innovative tech companies with market access and internationalization by identifying partners / local project /customers/investors, supporting with market information / technology validation, feasibility assessments, local business model development and market entry.
GBI also supports adopters of innovation including companies, governments and institutions with technology scouting and open innovation, program management and ecosystem development. GBI has developed the Global Technology Interface (GTI) –an online platform for technologies and market opportunities to connect- making it easier and cost effective for technologies to access new markets.
CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development
CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development is a not-for-profit, industry-led institution that helps business become sustainable organisations. It is on a mission to catalyse innovative ideas and solutions, in India, and globally, to enable business, and its stakeholders, in sustainable value creation. Its knowledge, action and recognition activities enable companies to be future ready, improve footprints proles, and advocate policymakers and legislators to improve standards of sustainable business through domestic and global policy interventions.
CESD leverages its role of all-inclusive ecosystem player, partnering industry, government, and civil society. It has been a pioneer of environment management systems, biodiversity mapping, sustainability reporting, integrated reporting, and social & natural capital valuation in India, thus upgrading business in India to sustainable competitiveness.
CESD, while creating a significant repertoire of subject-matter knowledge in sustainability, has created platforms to dynamically work in the areas of climate change, biodiversity, air pollution and resource efficiency and mobilizes collaborative industry action.
The India Business and Biodiversity Initiative (IBBI) is a multi-stakeholder platform initiated by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and Hosted by CII Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development from 2014. There are 40 Businesses as signatory to the initiative and 13 stakeholder organizations from various institutions and development organization are member of initiative. It is led by Mr. Kavinder Singh, MD & CEO, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited. It is the only national initiative representing Indian Businesses on biodiversity at Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), an executive member of CBD’s Global Partnership for Business and Biodiversity (GPBB) and member of CBD’s Informal Advisory Group on Mainstreaming Biodiversity.
Expertise France
Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework – EU support is a project funded by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France. It aims at facilitating a comprehensive and participatory process leading to the adoption of a transformative post-2020 global biodiversity framework that fosters commitment and implementation. On the road to COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming, China, the project supports the uptake of high ambitions by Parties and other stakeholders by mobilizing high-level expertise, organizing workshops, raising awareness and creating spaces for dialogue on central and critical biodiversity-related challenges.
Visit: https://4post2020bd.net/
EU and EU-India Ties
The EU, which consists of 27 countries, has the world’s second largest economy and its third largest population, after China and India. Though richly diverse, the countries that make up the EU (its ‘Member States’) are all committed to the same basic values: peace, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. By creating a frontier-free single market and a single currency (the euro) which has been adopted by 19 Member States, the EU has given a significant boost to trade and employment. It is also at the forefront of global policies on sustainability. EU-India relations: For over 55 years, the EU and India have worked together to reduce poverty, prevent disasters, expand trade, secure global public goods, enhance security around the world and promote joint research in energy, health, agriculture and many other fields of mutual interest.
CMS (Centre for Media Studies)
CMS (Centre for Media Studies), is a prominent research based think tank in India, since 1991. CMS has been engaged in Research, Advocacy and Capacity building in Social Development, Environment, Communication, Transparency and Governance issues at local and national policy levels. CMS is recognized for its rigorous study methodologies, innovative approaches to research and the credibility of its findings. It has completed over 500 projects in collaboration with 162 public and private partners across the globe.
Asia’s largest International Environment & Wildlife Film Festival and Forum is an outcome of CMS’s core commitment to go “beyond research.” Since its inception in 2002, it has organised 10 competitive and 55 traveling festivals in 49 cities of 26 Indian states. CMS VATAVARAN has now become a movement and inspired many organizations & individuals to use films and film festivals as a medium to catalyse change. Filmmakers, conservationists, policymakers, media professionals, students, corporate professionals participate in film screenings, sessions, workshops, food festivals, field visits, etc.
Visit: https://www.cmsindia.org