Invasive alien species in focus at 10th plenary of IPBES (GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- The 140+ members of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) have gathered at Bonn, Germany for its10th plenary.
Agenda:
- On agenda is the scientific assessment report on “Invasive Alien Species and their Control”, which is set to be released.
- The delegates at the plenary would approve the text of the report that has taken four years to be developed by 86 leading experts from 49 countries.
Target 6 of GBF:
- Invasive alien species are a key driver of biodiversity loss and they are part of the targets set under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) adopted by 193 members of the Convention on Biological Diversity in December 2022.
- The GBF has 23 targets that have to be met by 2030.
- Target 6 sets down that by 2030, the impacts of invasive alien species on biodiversity and ecosystem services would be eliminated, minimised, reduced and mitigated.
- The aim is to prevent and reduce the rate of introduction and establishment of invasive alien species by at least 50 per cent by 2030.
- IPBES10 is the first meeting of this global body since the adoption of GBF. IPBES has already received requests for assessments to support the GBF’s implementation. This is likely to be a global assessment on biodiversity, the second of its kind.
About IPBES:
- Since it was established in 2012, IPBES has produced 10 assessment reports, which provide the most authoritative source of policy-relevant knowledge on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people.
- IPBES reports were instrumental in providing the scientific basis for the GBF, which prominently cites the assessment report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services published in 2019.
- The organisation is currently working on three more assessments:
- The assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health (nexus assessment)
- The assessment of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and the determinants of transformative change and options for achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity (transformative change assessment)
- The methodological assessment of the impact and dependence of business on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people (business and biodiversity assessment).
What the Supreme Court order on the validity of ‘self-respect’ marriages
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
Why in news?
- The Supreme Court recently observed that there is no blanket ban on advocates solemnising “self-respect” marriages under Section 7(A) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
- In doing so, a Bench of Justices set aside a 2014 ruling of the Madras High Court holding that marriages performed by the advocates are not valid and that “suyamariyathai” or “self-respect” marriages cannot be solemnised in secrecy.
What are ‘self-respect’ marriages?
- On January 17, 1968, the Hindu Marriage (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 1967, received the President’s approval and became the law. This amendment modified the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, by inserting Section 7-A into it. However, it extended only to the state of Tamil Nadu.
- Section 7-A deals with the special provision on “self-respect and secular marriages”. It legally recognises “any marriage between any two Hindus”, which can be referred to as “suyamariyathai” or “seerthiruththa marriage” or by any other name.
- Such marriages are solemnised in the presence of relatives, friends, or other persons, with parties declaring each other to be husband or wife, in a language understood by them.
- Further, each party to the marriage garlands the other or puts a ring on the other’s finger or ties a “thali” or mangal sutra. However, such marriages are also required to be registered as per the law.
Doing away with priests and rituals:
- The rationale behind the Tamil Nadu government amending the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, to include “suyamariyathai” or “self-respect” marriages, was to radically simplify weddings by shunning the need for mandatory Brahmin priests, holy fire and saptapadi (seven steps). This allowed marriages to be declared in the presence of the couple’s friends or family or any other persons.
- In a nutshell, the amendment was made to do away with the need for priests and rituals, which were otherwise required to complete wedding ceremonies.
- In its recent order, the Supreme Court allowed a petition challenging a Madras High Court order dated May 5 where the court had ordered the initiation of disciplinary action against the advocates who solemnised such marriages in their offices and issued marriage certificates to consenting adults.
What did the Supreme Court say?
- In the case of “Ilavarasan v. Superintendent of Police”, a Bench of Justices was hearing an appeal of a man called Ilavarasan against a Madras High Court order passed in May 2023, rejecting his habeas corpus petition to present his wife before the court.
- The petitioner had claimed that he had performed “suyamariyathai” with his wife, who was currently under her parents’ “illegal custody”.
- Refusing to accept the “self-respect” marriage certificate issued by the advocate, the Madras High Court dismissed Ilvarasan’s habeas corpus plea. Thus, he was compelled to move the top court, which successfully admitted his plea.
- In doing so, the court overruled the 2014 ruling of the Madras High Court in “Balakrishna Pandian v. The Superintendent of Police”, where it was held that marriages performed by the advocates are invalid and that “suyammariyathai” or “self-respect” marriages cannot be solemnised in secrecy.
- Further, the Suprem court also relied on its 2001 ruling in “Nagalingam v. Sivagami”, which said that there is no blanket ban on advocates to solemnise marriages under Section 7(A) of the Hindu Marriage Act (Tamil Nadu State Amendment Act).
What has the top court ruled on ‘self-respect’ marriages in the past?
- In “S. Nagalingam vs Sivagami” (2001), a bench of Justices recognised the petitioner’s marriage with his wife to be a valid one despite the ceremony of “saptapadi” or seven steps around the sacred fire, not taking place.
- Clarifying that the parties in the present case did not consider the “saptapadi” ceremony to be as essential as per their personal law, the court said that Section 7-A of the Hindu Marriage Act (Tamil Nadu State Amendment) would apply instead.
How Antarctica’s melting sea ice killed thousands of emperor penguins chicks
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- The study, ‘Record low 2022 Antarctic sea ice led to catastrophic breeding failure of emperor penguins’, was published recently.
Details:
- Up to 10,000 emperor penguin chicks across four colonies in Antarctica’s Bellingshausen Sea may have died as the sea ice underneath their breeding grounds melted and broke apart in late 2022.
- It’s the first recorded incident of widespread breeding failure of emperor penguins at multiple sites in a region due to sea ice loss.
Factors responsible:
- The sea ice disappeared before the start of the emperor chicks’ fledging period, during which they develop their waterproof adult wings and learn to swim. The birds most likely either drowned or froze to death, they couldn’t regulate their body temperature after getting drenched.
- Since 2016, the Antarctic sea ice extent, the total region with at least 15% sea-ice cover has been shrinking with the total area of frozen water around the continent reducing to new record low levels almost every year.
- This puts more than 90% of emperor penguin colonies at risk as they may go extinct by the end of this century, if Earth continues to get warmer at the present rate.
Sea-ice and the emperor penguin breeding cycle:
- The role of stable sea ice in the emperor penguin breeding cycle is crucial.
- The birds arrive from the sea to their preferred breeding sites on sea-ice in late March to April. They court and mate, and then lay eggs in May and June.
- Eggs hatch in August after which parent emperor penguins take turns to feed their chick.
- By late December or early January, the fledgling period comes to an end, leading chicks to go into the water and look for food themselves.
- Therefore, the sea ice on which emperor penguins breed needs to remain stable between April to January to ensure successful breeding.
Antarctic sea ice extent shrinking:
- Like 2022, the Antarctic sea ice extent has diminished to a new record low in 2023. But this time, the ice cover is exceptionally low.
- Throughout July 2023, sea ice averaged 13.5 million sq km, the lowest extent observed for this time of year since the continuous satellite record began in late 1978, according to a NASA Earth Observatory report.
- Although it’s currently the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere, ice growth has been really slow in Antarctica.
Global consequences:
- For instance, less sea ice exposes more of the continent’s ice to the open ocean, leading it to melt and break off more easily. This will contribute to rising sea levels, which can affect millions of people living in coastal regions.
- Decline in the ice sheet also causes a spike in sea surface temperatures as sea ice reflects solar rays back into space and thwarts heat from getting absorbed in the oceans. Warmer oceans mean more difficulty in the formation of ice and a wide range of other consequences.
Way Forward:
- The findings show a clear link between negative sea ice anomalies and emperor penguin breeding failures that may represent a snapshot of a future, warming Antarctica where such events become more frequent and widespread, with grave consequences for emperor penguin population viability.
