India Joins High Ambition Coalition (HAC) For Nature And People

At a ceremony held between the French and Indian governments on  7th October in New Delhi, India officially joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, a group of more than 70 countries encouraging the adoption of the global goal to protect 30x30.

HAC members currently include a mix of countries in the global north and south; European, Latin American, Africa and Asia countries are among the members. India is the first of the BRICS bloc of major emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to join the HAC.

India’s announcement comes in the lead up to a high-level biodiversity meeting, hosted by China. The virtual meeting to take place October 11-15 will tackle key aspects of the biodiversity treaty to be finalized in 2022. The global 30x30 goal is currently a centrepiece of the treaty.

Rameshwar Prasad Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India handed over the signed HAC agreement to H.E. Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India in a ceremony held today.

Expressing delight on India joining member countries of HAC, Rameshwar Prasad Gupta said that resource mobilization will always be the cornerstone for implementation of policies and programmes for conserving biodiversity and said India would ensure all support in meeting the global biodiversity targets.

Welcoming India’s decision to join the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, which was initiated at the “One Planet Summit” in Paris in January 2021, Emmanuel Lenain said that on the eve of the opening of COP15, India joining the High Ambition Coalition is a real game changer and will boost our multilateral efforts. Stating that India is a major player for biodiversity protection, the French ambassador informed that this coalition aims to promote an international agreement to protect at least 30 per cent of world's land and ocean by 2030.