Environmental Conventions and Treaties Notes for UPSC: Ramsar, CITES, CBD, Montreal, Kyoto, Basel, Stockholm, Minamata, UNCCD with Year, Subject, Secretariat and India's Role

Environmental problems do not stop at the national borders: climate change, the ozone hole, the trade in wildlife, the transport of the hazardous waste and the loss of wetlands need international cooperation. This cooperation takes the form of conventions, protocols and treaties, signed by many countries. UPSC loves this topic because it joins the static facts (year, place, subject, secretariat) with the current affairs (the latest COP, the new protocols and India's role). The question is usually "Which convention deals with...?" or a statement-based question on the features of a treaty. These notes give a complete list of the important environmental conventions with the year, the headquarters or the secretariat, the key points and the India link, in easy tables, with the memory tricks and the Mains angle.

Why Learn the Conventions?

The environment section of the Prelims has regularly asked about conventions and international organisations. In the Mains, the topic supports answers on international relations, climate diplomacy and the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities". Read this topic along with our notes on the Climate Change and Paris Agreement, IUCN Red List, CITES and International Environmental Conventionsiucn-red-list-cites-and-environmental-conventions-notes-for-upsc and Environmental Laws and EIA.

Conventions on Climate and the Atmosphere

Conventions on Biodiversity and Wildlife

Conventions on Chemicals, Waste and Land

Oceans, Whales and Other Treaties

• UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982): Defines the territorial sea (12 nautical miles), the contiguous zone (24 nm) and the Exclusive Economic Zone (200 nm). India is a party.
• International Whaling Commission (IWC, 1946): Regulates the whaling; the moratorium on the commercial whaling came in 1986.
• MARPOL (1973/78): Prevents the pollution from the ships.
• London Convention (1972): Prevents the dumping of the wastes at sea.
• Antarctic Treaty (1959): Keeps Antarctica for the peaceful and scientific use; India has research stations (Maitri and Bharati) there.
• Agreement on the Conservation of the Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ, the High Seas Treaty): Adopted in 2023 for the protection of the marine life of the high seas.

Landmark Environmental Summits

CITES Appendices and Ramsar Concepts

CITES classifies the species in three appendices. Appendix I lists the species threatened with extinction, and the international commercial trade in them is banned (for example, the tiger, the Asian elephant and the snow leopard). Appendix II lists the species that may become threatened if the trade is not controlled, and the trade needs the permits. Appendix III lists the species protected in at least one country that asks the others for help in controlling the trade. In the Ramsar Convention, a wetland designated as a "Ramsar site" must be managed by the principle of the wise use, and the sites facing the ecological damage are put in the Montreux Record; India's Keoladeo National Park and Loktak Lake have been placed there in the past. The notes on the Protected Areas, Ramsar Sites and Wildlife Laws give the list of Indian sites for the further study.

India and the Conventions

• India is a party to the Ramsar Convention, CITES, CBD, UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, the Montreal Protocol, the Basel, Stockholm and Minamata conventions and the UNCCD.
• India hosted the COP 14 of the UNCCD at New Delhi in 2019 and the COP 13 of the Convention on Migratory Species at Gandhinagar in 2020.
• India promotes the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), and the Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment).
• India supports the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC) in the climate talks, and asks the developed countries for the climate finance and the technology transfer.
• The Indian laws such as the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 and the Biological Diversity Act 2002 were made partly to implement these international commitments.

Principles in the International Environmental Law

• Polluter Pays Principle: The one who causes the pollution must pay for the damage.
• Precautionary Principle: Where there is a threat of serious damage, lack of the scientific certainty is not a reason to delay the preventive action.
• Sustainable Development: Meeting the needs of the present without harming the ability of the future generations to meet their needs (the Brundtland Report, 1987).
• Intergenerational equity and CBDR: The responsibility is shared, but the degree of the responsibility differs.

Memory Tricks and the Mains Angle

• Remember "V-M-K-P" for the climate and ozone chain: Vienna (1985), Montreal (1987), Kyoto (1997), Paris (2015).
• The waste and the chemical conventions: "B-R-S-M": Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Minamata.
• The Rio Earth Summit of 1992 gave three major outcomes: the UNFCCC, the CBD and Agenda 21 (and it started the process that led to the UNCCD).
• For the Mains, discuss the effectiveness of the international environmental law: success stories like the Montreal Protocol, the weaker ones like the Kyoto Protocol, the problems of the enforcement and the funding, and the importance of the equity in the burden sharing. India's stand on the climate justice is a strong theme.

Why Some Treaties Succeed and Others Struggle

The Montreal Protocol succeeded because it had a clear target, a financial mechanism (the Multilateral Fund) to help the developing countries, trade measures against the non-parties and a flexible review process. The Kyoto Protocol struggled because the major emitters were not bound, or left the treaty, and the enforcement was weak. The Paris Agreement chose a "bottom-up" approach, in which each country sets its own target, which makes the participation wider but the ambition uneven. For a Mains answer, you can use this comparison to show what makes an international environmental agreement effective: clear goals, funding, technology support, monitoring and fairness.

Previous-Year Style Practice

• Which convention is about the wetlands? Answer: The Ramsar Convention (1971).
• Which convention controls the trade in the endangered species? Answer: CITES.
• The Minamata Convention is related to which substance? Answer: Mercury.
• Which protocol has the 30 by 30 target? Answer: The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Which convention deals with the wetlands?

The Ramsar Convention of 1971.

Which convention regulates the trade in the endangered species?

CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1973).

Which treaty protects the ozone layer?

The Vienna Convention (1985) and the Montreal Protocol (1987).

What is the Kigali Amendment?

The 2016 amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down the HFCs.

Which convention controls the hazardous waste movement?

The Basel Convention (1989).

Which convention is about the Persistent Organic Pollutants?

The Stockholm Convention (2001).

Which convention deals with the mercury?

The Minamata Convention (2013).

What does the Nagoya Protocol deal with?

Access to the genetic resources and the fair sharing of the benefits (ABS).

What is the 30 by 30 target?

The aim of protecting 30 per cent of the land and the sea by 2030, under the Kunming-Montreal framework.

Where is the secretariat of the UNFCCC and the UNCCD?

Both are in Bonn, Germany.

Which is the polluter pays principle?

The principle that the person causing the pollution should bear the cost of the damage.

How is this topic asked in UPSC?

As the match-the-following of the convention, the year and the subject, and in statement questions on their features.