Environment & ClimatePriority2025-07-30

India's Wetland Resolution Adopted at Ramsar COP15

Why focus: Iron Law 4: COP outcome. GS3 Environment, tests Ramsar Convention and wetland criteria in How-Many-Correct format.

In News

What Happened

On July 30, 2025, at the Ramsar COP15 in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 172 member countries unanimously adopted an India-led resolution titled 'Promoting Sustainable Lifestyles for the Wise Use of Wetlands'. This marked the first time since joining the convention in 1982 that India successfully introduced and passed a resolution. The adoption received overwhelming support from contracting parties and six International Organisation Partners.

Why It Matters

The resolution officially integrates India's 'Mission LiFE' (Lifestyle for Environment) philosophy into global environmental governance. It shifts the international approach to wetland conservation from relying solely on top-down regulations to prioritizing community-led behavioral changes, recognizing that individual and societal choices are essential for sustaining critical water ecosystems globally.

Background

History & Context

India ratified the Ramsar Convention on February 1, 1982, initially designating Chilika Lake and Keoladeo National Park. Over the decades, India aggressively expanded its Ramsar network, reaching 91 sites by mid-2025, yet it had never independently authored and passed a convention resolution. Building on the momentum of 'Mission LiFE', introduced by the Indian Prime Minister at UNFCCC COP26 (2021), and the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) Resolution 6/8 on sustainable lifestyles passed in March 2024, India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change drafted this proposal. Domestically, India had already laid the empirical groundwork through 'Mission Sahbhagita' and the 'Save Wetlands' campaign, where over two million citizen volunteers mapped 1.7 lakh wetlands, demonstrating the viability of community-driven conservation to the global community.

What Changed

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BEFORE: Ramsar's 'Wise Use' principle primarily focused on national policies, scientific hydrological management, and strict ecosystem-based approaches. NOW: The principle formally incorporates a behavioral lens, urging state parties to integrate 'sustainable lifestyle-based interventions' directly into their statutory wetland management plans and investments.
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BEFORE: Communication, Education, Participation, and Awareness (CEPA) frameworks were broadly about general environmental awareness. NOW: The new resolution specifically aligns with Ramsar Resolution XIV.8 (New CEPA Approach), operationalizing a 10-year framework explicitly targeting sustainable consumption and production choices by local communities.
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BEFORE: Grassroots community mapping was largely informal and disconnected from international funding strategies. NOW: State parties are formally called upon to create 'enabling conditions'—such as fostering public-private collaborations and localized education—recognizing community-level behavioral choices as a legitimate pillar of fundable wetland conservation infrastructure.
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BEFORE: Climate co-benefits of wetlands were assessed through generalized environmental metrics. NOW: Accompanying the policy shift at COP15, targeted digital assessment mechanisms like the CoWET (Capturing Climate Co-Benefits of Wetlands) tool were launched by GIZ India to assess and harness specific Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and climate adaptation co-benefits of wetland ecosystems.

What Did NOT Change

Despite the behavioral push, the core definition of the 'Wise Use' principle—maintaining the ecological character of wetlands using ecosystem-based approaches within the context of sustainable development—remains the legal baseline. Furthermore, the resolution relies on voluntary action and domestic integration, stopping short of imposing legally binding behavioral compliance mandates, consumption quotas, or strict financial penalties on contracting parties.

Prelims Angle

NCERT Connection

This event directly links to Class 12 Biology, Chapter 15 (Biodiversity and Conservation). The chapter emphasizes that biodiversity conservation cannot rely solely on strict protectionist measures (like exclusionary national parks) but requires the sustainable utilization of resources by local communities. India's Ramsar COP15 resolution operationalizes this textbook concept of 'sustainable utilization' by officially defining individual behavioral shifts and community participation (Mission LiFE) as fundamental drivers for maintaining the ecological character of globally important ecosystems.

Common Misconceptions

✗ India frequently authors and passes binding resolutions at the Ramsar Convention to influence global wetland policies.

✓ This was a rare multilateral leadership milestone, marking India's first introduced and adopted resolution at a Ramsar COP since it joined the convention 43 years ago in 1982.

India is highly active in adding domestic sites to the Ramsar List (reaching 91 sites by 2025), which students often conflate with authoring the convention's geopolitical and structural policy frameworks.

✗ The resolution mandates strict, legally binding lifestyle changes and bans certain consumption practices for populations living near Ramsar sites.

✓ The resolution urges voluntary action and the creation of enabling conditions for sustainable choices, tailored to national circumstances, rather than imposing top-down bans.

The phrase 'Promoting Sustainable Lifestyles' is often misinterpreted as regulatory enforcement, whereas the Ramsar framework operates on cooperative 'wise use' principles rather than punitive international laws.

Practice Questions

Q1

How Many Correct

Consider the following statements regarding the Ramsar Convention and India's participation at COP15: 1. The resolution titled 'Promoting Sustainable Lifestyles for the Wise Use of Wetlands' was adopted at Ramsar COP15 held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. 2. This marks the first time since joining the convention in 1982 that India successfully introduced and passed a resolution at a Ramsar COP. 3. The resolution makes it legally binding for all 172 contracting parties to enforce strict consumption quotas for communities living within a 10-kilometer radius of Ramsar sites. How many of the above statements are correct?

Q2

Match the Following

Match List I (Initiative/Concept) with List II (Description) in the context of wetland conservation: List I: A. Mission LiFE B. Montreux Record C. Mission Sahbhagita D. CoWET Tool List II: 1. A register of wetland sites where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur due to human interference. 2. A global mass movement introduced by India to encourage individual and community action for environmental protection. 3. A digital application launched at COP15 to assess climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction co-benefits of wetlands. 4. An all-of-society approach in India that mobilized over two million citizens for wetland conservation and boundary demarcation. Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Q3

Assertion & Reason

Assertion (A): The adoption of India's resolution at Ramsar COP15 represents a shift in wetland management from purely regulatory approaches to those incorporating behavioral economics and community choices. Reason (R): The resolution legally mandates the eviction of human settlements from the core zones of all Ramsar sites to prevent behavioral interference with the wetlands' ecological character. Select the correct answer from the following codes:

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