Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)

• The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the statutory organization, was constituted in September 1974 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
• Further, CPCB was entrusted with the powers and functions under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
• Principal Functions of the CPCB, as spelled out in the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981,
• It aims to promote cleanliness of streams and wells in different areas of the States by prevention, control and abatement of water pollution, and
• It aims to improve the quality of air and to prevent, control or abate air pollution in the country.

COP 21 Conference

• It is also known as COP 21 Conference which led to an international climate agreement to keep global warming below 2 degrees centigrade prior pre-industrial level.
• 196 negotiating parties agreed on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016 to draw a long-term greenhouse gas emission development strategy.
• It is a legally binding rule to the parties involved.
• the obligation for developed countries to provide financial support to the developing countries in order to enable them to improvise their existing technologies to implement the agreement is been a constituent of this agreement.
• It aims to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions by 2025-2030.

Montreal Protocol

• It is a global agreement to protect the Earth's ozone layer by phasing out the ozone-depleting chemicals.
• It includes both production and consumption of ozone-depleting chemicals.
• It was signed in 1987 and enacted in 1989.
• The parties to the protocol meet annually to make a decision and review the execution of its operations to date.
• Kigali agreement is the recent amendment to the material protocol which envisages the phase-down of HFCs in 2016.

CMS

• CMS is also known as the Bonn Convention. It is the only convention that deals with taking or harvesting of species from the wild. It currently protects 173 migratory species from across the globe.
• Enforcement Year: The Convention came into force on November 1, 1983. The Secretariat that administers the Convention was established in 1984.
• Parties: As of 1st November 2019, there were 130 Parties to the Convention– 129 countries plus the European Union. Maldives is the latest country to join it (November 2019).
• Species Covered: Convention has two Appendices:
• Appendix I lists migratory species that are endangered or threatened with extinction.
• Appendix II lists migratory species which have an unfavourable conservation status and which require international agreements for their conservation and management.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES)

• CITES was conceptualized in 1963 at a meeting of the (IUCN) International Union For Conservation Of Nature.
• It came into force in 1975 and consists of 183 member countries to date that abide by CITES regulations by implementing legislation within their own borders to enforce those regulations.
• Located in Geneva, Switzerland, the CITES is administered by the United Nations under its UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) Wing.
• The Convention of Parties to CITES is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention and comprises all its Parties.
• Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties, it does not take the place of national laws.
• Rather, it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.