Environmental Conventions: From Stockholm to Paris and Beyond

Prerequisites

• Climate Change — the science behind the UNFCCC, Kyoto and Paris.
• Biodiversity — the concepts that the CBD and its protocols protect.
• International Organisations — UNEP, WMO and the wider UN system.

The Hook: Why Is a Bilaspur Reservoir on a List Made in Iran?

Why it matters: This is one of the most reliable Prelims areas: treaty–year–place–subject matching, “which protocol deals with X”, and recent COP outcomes. In Mains GS-II, questions ask about India’s role in climate negotiations and about the effectiveness of global environmental governance.

The Big Timeline

timeline
    title Major environmental conventions
    1971 : Ramsar Convention (wetlands)
    1972 : Stockholm Conference, UNEP created
    1973 : CITES (wildlife trade)
    1979 : Bonn Convention, CMS (migratory species)
    1985 : Vienna Convention (ozone layer)
    1987 : Montreal Protocol, Brundtland Report
    1989 : Basel Convention (hazardous waste)
    1992 : Rio Earth Summit, UNFCCC and CBD
    1994 : UNCCD (desertification)
    1997 : Kyoto Protocol
    2000 : Cartagena Protocol (biosafety)
    2001 : Stockholm Convention (POPs)
    2010 : Nagoya Protocol (access and benefit sharing)
    2013 : Minamata Convention (mercury)
    2015 : Paris Agreement, SDGs
    2016 : Kigali Amendment (HFCs)
    2022 : Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
    2023 : High Seas (BBNJ) Agreement adopted

1. Nature and Wildlife Conventions

Ramsar details:

• World Wetlands Day: 2 February (the date of signing).
• The Montreux Record lists Ramsar sites where ecological change has occurred or is likely. Keoladeo (Rajasthan) and Loktak (Manipur) are on it.
• India’s first Ramsar sites (1981): Chilika (Odisha) and Keoladeo (Rajasthan).
• Chhattisgarh’s first Ramsar site: Kopra reservoir (कोपरा जलाशय), Bilaspur (2025). India’s total keeps rising; see Lakes of India for the latest dated count.
• The 15th Ramsar COP was held at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, in July 2025.

CITES details: Species are listed in three Appendices:

• Appendix I: threatened with extinction; commercial trade generally prohibited (tiger, Asian elephant, pangolins since 2016).
• Appendix II: not necessarily threatened now but trade must be controlled (permits).
• Appendix III: listed at the request of a country that wants cooperation in controlling trade.

CITES is legally binding on parties, but it does not replace national laws; India enforces it through the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (as amended in 2022).

2. Ozone and Chemicals

• World Ozone Day: 16 September.
• The Montreal Protocol is widely called the most successful environmental treaty; it was the first UN treaty to achieve universal ratification (2009), and the ozone layer is on track to recover.
• India’s Kigali schedule (Group 2 countries): baseline years 2024–2026, freeze in 2028, then step-wise cuts reaching 85% by 2047. India ratified the Kigali Amendment in 2021.

3. The Rio Process (1992) and Sustainable Development

• Brundtland Report, “Our Common Future” (1987): defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Stockholm Conference (UN Conference on the Human Environment), June 1972: the first global environment conference; it created UNEP (headquarters Nairobi). World Environment Day, 5 June, marks its opening.
• Rio Earth Summit (UNCED), June 1992, produced:
  • UNFCCC (climate) and CBD (biodiversity), both opened for signature
  • Agenda 21 (action plan for the 21st century)
  • the Rio Declaration (27 principles, including the precautionary approach and polluter pays)
  • the Forest Principles (non-binding)
  • and set in motion the UNCCD (desertification), adopted in 1994 (in force 1996). India hosted UNCCD COP14 at Greater Noida in 2019.
• Rio+20 (2012), “The Future We Want”: launched the process that led to the Sustainable Development Goals (adopted 2015, 17 goals, 169 targets, for 2030).

4. Climate Treaties: UNFCCC, Kyoto, Paris

UNFCCC (1992)

• In force 21 March 1994; secretariat in Bonn. Its supreme body is the Conference of the Parties (COP), which meets annually. COP1 was held in Berlin (1995).
• Objective: stabilise GHG concentrations at a level that prevents dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
• Principle: Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC).
• Country groups: Annex I (industrialised countries and economies in transition), Annex II (rich Annex I countries that must provide finance), Non-Annex I (mostly developing, including India).

Kyoto Protocol (1997)

The United States never ratified Kyoto, and Canada withdrew in 2011; that weakness led to the bottom-up Paris model.

Paris Agreement (2015)

Recent COPs (the most-asked part)

5. Biodiversity Treaties: CBD and Its Protocols

• India hosted CBD COP11 in Hyderabad (2012) and implements the CBD and Nagoya Protocol through the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
• CBD COP16 (Cali, Colombia, 2024) set up the Cali Fund for benefit sharing from the use of digital sequence information (DSI).
• CBD COP17 is scheduled for Yerevan, Armenia, 19–30 October 2026.

High Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement): the agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, under UNCLOS, was adopted in June 2023 and entered into force on 17 January 2026. It allows marine protected areas on the high seas. India signed it in 2024; its ratification was still pending in early 2026.

6. India’s Own Framework

Constitution

The 42nd Amendment (1976) added:

• Article 48A (Directive Principle): the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and safeguard forests and wildlife.
• Article 51A(g) (Fundamental Duty): every citizen must protect and improve the natural environment, including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and have compassion for living creatures.
• It also moved forests and protection of wild animals and birds from the State List to the Concurrent List.

The Supreme Court reads the right to a clean and healthy environment into Article 21. See DPSP and Fundamental Duties and Fundamental Rights.

Key laws

Judicial principles

India-led international initiatives

International Solar Alliance (2015, headquarters Gurugram), CDRI (2019), LeadIT with Sweden (2019), Global Biofuels Alliance (2023, at India’s G20 presidency), International Big Cat Alliance (launched 2023).

Memory Tricks

Don’t Confuse

Common Mistakes

Practice

All questions below are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.

Level 1: Foundation

1. World Wetlands Day is observed on ______ and World Ozone Day on ______.
2. Which protocol under the CBD deals with living modified organisms?
3. At which COP was the first Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement concluded?

Level 2: Prelims MCQs

Q1. Match List I (Convention or Protocol) with List II (Subject):

• (a) A-4, B-3, C-2, D-1
• (b) A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1
• (c) A-4, B-2, C-3, D-1
• (d) A-2, B-3, C-4, D-1

Q2. Consider the following statements about the Paris Agreement:

1. It aims to hold global warming well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.
2. Only developed countries are required to submit Nationally Determined Contributions.
3. A global stocktake is held every five years.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 1 only
• (b) 1 and 3 only
• (c) 2 and 3 only
• (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q3. The Kigali Amendment (2016) to the Montreal Protocol is concerned with:

• (a) Phasing out chlorofluorocarbons
• (b) Phasing down hydrofluorocarbons
• (c) Reducing methane emissions from agriculture
• (d) Regulating trade in mercury

Q4. Which of the following was/were outcomes of COP29 held at Baku in 2024?

1. A New Collective Quantified Goal of at least US$300 billion a year by 2035 for developing countries
2. Adoption of the Paris Agreement
3. Agreement to set up a Loss and Damage fund for the first time

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

• (a) 1 only
• (b) 1 and 3 only
• (c) 2 and 3 only
• (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q5. Chhattisgarh’s Achanakmar–Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve has international recognition under:

• (a) The Ramsar Convention
• (b) The World Heritage Convention
• (c) UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere programme
• (d) The Convention on Migratory Species

Level 3: Mains Answer Writing

Q1. (60 words) Distinguish between the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.

Q2. (150–200 words) Examine India’s role in international climate negotiations, from Kyoto to Belém.

Quick Revision Table

Key Takeaways

What’s Next

• Environment and Ecology — Quick Revision — the whole chapter on one page
• Climate Change — the science and India’s NDCs in detail
• Pollution and Waste Management — how the chemical treaties and Indian pollution laws work on the ground
• DPSP and Fundamental Duties — Articles 48A and 51A(g)