RAS question
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was signed at which summit?
Correct answer: (C) Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro, 1992.
The Convention on Biological Diversity was signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992.
Explanation
The Convention on Biological Diversity belongs to the 1992 Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro, not to the later climate-centred summits that often confuse students in environment questions. The CBD Secretariat states that the Convention was signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993. That same source also explains why the treaty is broader than a simple wildlife agreement: it covers conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources. In RAS terms, the key is to link CBD with biodiversity governance and Rio 1992.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Stockholm Conference of 1972 is associated with the human environment, while the CBD was signed at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.
- (B) The Kyoto Summit of 1997 is linked with greenhouse-gas emissions, not the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
- (D) The Paris Climate Summit of 2015 dealt with climate change, whereas the CBD had already been signed at Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
Concept
This tests the Environment and Ecology area on international environmental conventions and their summit linkages. It recurs in RAS because biodiversity, sustainable use and benefit-sharing are core treaty themes that are easy to mix up with climate summits.