DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

20 MAY 2022

1 – Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2022: 

GS III

Energy Conservation

• Context:
• The World Economic Forum publishes an annual nation benchmarking report every year (WEF).
• Findings:
• According to the research, the energy transition is not keeping pace with the mounting urgency for change.
• Energy affordability, security, and sustainability are all becoming increasingly crucial.
• Unaffordability of energy is jeopardising the goal of a fair and just transition.
• A lack of energy diversification exists.
• Important suggestions:
• The report urged both the public and commercial sectors to take immediate steps to achieve a stable energy transition.
• To meet long-term climate goals, a comprehensive approach with a clear schedule is required.
• Governments should prioritise universal access to affordable energy. Direct benefits transfer (DBT) and other assistance measures can help to ensure energy fairness.
• To diversify, import-dependent countries must seek energy from a variety of sources rather than relying too heavily on a few.
• Domestic energy may be diversified with low-carbon alternatives, allowing countries to become self-sufficient and secure in their energy supply.
• To attract sustainable energy investments and guarantee that promises become legally binding structures, regulatory frameworks must be strengthened.
• The energy transition requires decarbonizing industries.
• Source – The Hindu

2 – Seoul Forest Declaration:

GS III

Environment Conservation

• Context:
• The Seoul Forest Declaration was the result of deliberations at the XV World Forestry Congress, which took place in Seoul, South Korea, recently.
• This was the second Asia-based congress, with the first being held in Indonesia in 1978.
• World Forestry Congress information:
• The World Forestry Congress takes place every six years or so.
• In 1926, the inaugural Congress was held in Italy.
• Since 1954, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has assisted host governments in organising the Congress.
• The host country is responsible for the organising and funding of each Congress.
• Building a Green, Healthy, and Resilient Future with Forests is the theme for 2022.
• What exactly is WFC? What exactly is it?
• There are no formal constituency or country representatives at the Congress; it is not an intergovernmental assembly.
• The Congress serves as a forum for exchanging ideas and experiences on all areas of forests and forestry, with the goal of formulating broad recommendations that can be implemented at the national, regional, and global levels.
• Forest Declaration of Seoul:
• It identifies key areas that have the potential to lead to a future that is green, healthy, and resilient.
• It advocates for shared and integrated forest management among institutions, sectors, and stakeholders.
• By 2030, worldwide investment in forest and landscape restoration must quadruple.
• Transition to a circular bioeconomy and carbon neutrality.
• Other results of the XV World Forestry Congress include:
• New collaborations have begun:
• The AFFIRM (Assuring Forest Futures with Integrated Risk Management) Mechanism.
• SAFE stands for Sustaining an Abundance of Forest Ecosystems.
• What is landscape restoration in the forest?
• It’s a never-ending process of restoring ecological functionality and improving human well-being in deforested or degraded forest settings.
• FLR entails more than just planting trees; it also entails restoring an entire landscape to satisfy current and future needs, as well as providing different benefits and land uses over time.
• Source – The Hindu

3 – Biological Diversity Act:

GS III

Environment Conservation

• Context:
• The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, was introduced by the government in Lok Sabha in December 2021. The measure is currently being discussed in the Joint Parliamentary Committee.
• Senior Congressman Jairam Ramesh has expressed reservations about the bill’s problematic aspects. This comprises:
• Practitioners of AYUSH are exempt from the law’s stipulations. This exception may allow the law to be abused.
• The law distinguishes between farmed biodiversity and biodiversity dependent on forests.
• The nomination of sixteen ex-officio officers by the Indian government dilutes the National Biodiversity Jurisdiction’s authority (NBA).
• NBA clearance is only required when a patent is commercialised, not when it is applied for.
• The Bill’s Highlights include:
• It aims to relieve pressure on wild medicinal plants by increasing medical plant cultivation.
• The bill also makes research more efficient, simplifies the patent application procedure, and decriminalises some offences.
• It encourages increased foreign investment in biological resources, research, patenting, and commercialization without jeopardising national security.
• It focuses on who has access to biological resources and information, as well as how that access will be monitored.
• What is the purpose of amending the Biodiversity Act of 2002?
• AYUSH medicine advocates requested the government to simplify, streamline, and lower the compliance cost in order to foster collaborative research and investment.
• They also wanted to make the patent application process easier, expand access, and share benefits with local communities.
• Why do environmentalists oppose this legislation?
• The bill’s primary goal is to enable biodiversity trading rather than conservation, biodiversity protection, or local community knowledge.
• The law was introduced without first soliciting public input, as required by the pre-legislative consultative policy.
• The term “bio-utilization,” which is a key part of the Act, is not included in the draught. Leaving out bio use would exclude a variety of commercially motivated operations such as characterisation, incentivization, and bioassay.
• The measure also exempts cultivated medical plants from the Act’s reach, although determining which species are produced and which are wild is nearly impossible
• What is the Biological Diversity Act of 2002, and what does it do?
• Enacted to protect biological variety and to provide a fair and equitable distribution of monetary benefits from the commercial utilisation of biological resources and traditional knowledge.
• The fundamental goal of this law is to protect India’s rich biodiversity and accompanying knowledge from being exploited by foreigners.
• It uses a three-tier system of central and state boards, as well as local committees, to combat biopiracy and safeguard biological diversity and local growers.
• The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs), and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) are all established under the Act.
• The NBA will have the legal authority of a civil court.
• Source – The Hindu

4 – Thomas Cup:

Prelims Specific Topic

• For the first time, India’s men’s badminton team won the Thomas Cup, defeating Indonesia.
• Bangkok hosted the competition (Thailand).
• It is a 16-nation team tournament (teams representing Badminton World Federation (BWF) member countries).
• Since 1982, the championships have been held every two years.
• Sir George Alan Thomas, an England player, started it.
• Source – The Hindu 

5 – La Reunion:

Prelims Specific Topic

• The Indian and French navy recently conducted their second combined patrol in the South-Western Indian Ocean, on the French island of La Reunion.
• The goal is to demonstrate the capabilities of “combined surveillance and patrolling operations.”
• Regarding La Reunion:
• It is a French overseas department and area located on an island in the Indian Ocean.
• It is located roughly 950 kilometres east of Madagascar and 175 kilometres southwest of Mauritius.
• Réunion is a eurozone member and the European Union’s most remote region.
• The only eurozone areas in the Southern Hemisphere are Réunion and Mayotte, another French overseas department.
• Source – The Hindu