Lok Sabha passed Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill

livemint.com:

Amid the opposition’s loud protests on the violence in Manipur, Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2023 by a voice vote. The bill brings changes to the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 by decriminalising biodiversity offences, among others.

Among several criticisms of the Bill was that it promotes ‘ease of doing business’ and would exempt users of codified traditional knowledge and Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) practitioners from sharing benefits with local communities. Union forest, environment and climate change minister Bhupender Yadav discussed the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha on 25 July.

While introducing the bill, he said a “significant" bill is being discussed in this house today, and added, “Significant because the whole world is undergoing a triple crisis now. On one side is the crisis of climate change, on another is the crisis of desertification of land, and on the third, the crisis of the loss of biological resources." “In our country, we want to promote ease of doing business…by (decriminalising offences) ease of doing business and ease of living is being brought forward by this Bill," the minister said.

The Bill will amend the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 that provides for the conservation of biological diversity in India and their sustainable use, and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits that arise from using biodiversity. The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on 16 December 2021 by Yadav was moved to a joint committee four days later because of concerns over the amendments favouring the industry and contradicting the spirit of the Convention on Biological