Current Affairs 18 October 2025
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress 2025 concludes in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Held once every four years, the IUCN World Conservation Congress hosts the Members’ Assembly, which is the IUCN’s highest decision making body.
About IUCN
Genesis: Founded in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network.
Headquarters: Gland, Switzerland.
Membership: 1,400+ members (states, NGOs, research institutions). India is a member.
Governance: Members’ Assembly of IUCN World Conservation Council being highest governing body with IUCN Council serving as principal governing body in between the sessions of World Conservation Congress.
Key Instruments: IUCN Red List, World Heritage Outlook, The World Database on Protected Areas.
Place in News: Brazil
Brazil (Capital: Brasilia)
India-Brazil Business Dialogue was held in presence of Vice President of Brazil.
Political Features
- Largest country in South America.
- Bordering Countries: Borders all South American nations except Chile and Ecuador.
- Argentina and Paraguay (Southwest), Bolivia and Peru (West), Columbia (Northwest), and Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana (North).
- Bordering Water Bodies: Atlantic Ocean.
Geographical Features
- Encompasses most of the Amazon Basin, which is World’s largest river system and tropical rainforest.
- Consists of dry grasslands known as Pampas and Wetland ecosystem of Pantanal (World’s largest tropical wetland).
- Major River Systems: Amazon, Paraguay–Paraná–Plata System, Tocantins–Araguaia System and São Francisco River.
Mercosur (Estd: 1991, HQ: Montevideo, Uruguay )
- It is a South American trade bloc promoting free trade and economic cooperation.
- Membership: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay & Uruguay. Venezuela’s membership is suspended.
- Governance: Council of the Common Market (CMC), Common Market Group (GMC), and Mercosur Trade Commission (CCM),
- Role: It functions as a customs union with a common external tariff, facilitating regional integration.
UPOV Convention (Estd:1961, HQ: Geneva, Switzerland)
- UPOV stands for International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.
- Mission: It is an intergovernmental organization to provide and promote an effective system of Plant Variety Protection (PVP).
- Function: It grants Breeder’s Rights (an IP right) to incentivize the development of new, improved plant varieties for agriculture and food security.
- UPOV Convention 1991: It strengthens breeders’ rights and makes the farmer’s privilege (to save seeds) optional for member countries.
- India’s Status: India is not a member and uses its own sui generis law, the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority Act, 2001, which uniquely protects both breeder and farmer’s rights.
Ahmedabad recommended as host city for centenary edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2030.
About Commonwealth Games
- Inaugural event held in Hamilton, Canada in 1930.
- Recent Edition: 2022, Birmingham.
- Next Edition: 2026, Glasgow.
- Headquarters: London, United Kingdom.
- Governing Body: Commonwealth Sport (formerly, Commonwealth Games Federation)
- Members: 72 nations and territories.
- Frequency: Held every four years.
- Structure: Multi-sport international event for athletes from the Commonwealth.
State Mining Readiness Index
- Objective: To capture State’s relative contribution in developing the country’s mining sector, promote mining sector reforms and assess State performance.
- Basis: The index evaluates States based on auction performance, early mine operationalization, exploration thrust, and sustainable mining practices related to non-coal minerals.
- Classification: States are classified into three categories based on their mineral endowment.
- Top Performers in these categories are:
- A: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat
- B: Goa, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam
- C: Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Tripura
The UN Environment Programme releases the first State of Finance for Forests 2025 report, providing a global overview of public and private forest finance in 2023.
Major Findings
- Report finds an annual forest finance gap of US$ 216 billion between current financial flows and the investment required to achieve global forest goals by 2030.
- Annual investment in forests will need to triple to $300 billion by 2030, and grow sixfold by 2050, from US$84 billion in 2023.
- Governments were the primary source of forest funding, accounting for 91% of total flows in 2023.
- Meeting global climate and biodiversity goals requires expanding nature-based solutions by 1 billion hectares by 2030 and 1.8 billion by 2050.
