India calls for global unity to protect big cats at UN Climate Summit in Brazil
New Delhi, Nov 18: Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, addressed the High-Level Ministerial Segment on the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) at the UNFCCC CoP30 on November 17, 2025.
Calling for renewed international cooperation, he urged the global community to protect big cat species and their habitats as a vital component of integrated climate and biodiversity action.
The session was also attended by Madan Prasad Pariyar, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Government of Nepal.
Thanking Brazil for hosting the event, Yadav said the theme ‘Protecting Big Cats, Protecting Climate and Biodiversity’ was timely and relevant.
He emphasised that the world's ecological challenges are deeply interconnected and require coordinated, nature-based solutions.
Big cats, he noted, are apex predators and guardians of ecosystem health.
“Where big cats thrive, forests are healthier, grasslands regenerate, water systems function, and carbon is stored efficiently in living landscapes,” he said.
Declines in their populations, he warned, lead to destabilize ecosystems, weakened climate resilience, and reduced natural carbon sinks.
The minister highlighted ‘Big Cat Landscapes’ as Nature-Based Climate Solutions, urging countries to integrate nature-based action into future Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
He remarked, “What we often call wildlife conservation is, in fact, climate action in its most natural form.”
Conserving big cat habitats, he said, directly supports carbon sequestration, watershed protection, disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, and sustainable livelihoods.
He further outlined IBCA’s potential in assisting nations through technical support, standardised tools, capacity building, south-south cooperation, and innovative biodiversity-carbon financing mechanisms.
Minister Bhupender Yadav shared India’s achievements as home to five of the world’s seven big cat species.
He said that India doubled its tiger population ahead of schedule, while its Asiatic lion population continues to rise.
India has built one of the world’s most comprehensive wildlife databases, conducting nationwide assessments of tigers, lions, leopards, and snow leopards, and has expanded protected areas, secured wildlife corridors, and partnered with local communities for conservation-led livelihoods.
Emphasising that the International Big Cat Alliance was a vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, rooted in the philosophy ‘One Earth, One World, One Future’, the minister informed that 17 countries are already formally associated with IBCA, and over 30 more have expressed interest in joining.
India aims to bring all big cat range nations – and all countries committed to climate and biodiversity security - under the alliance.
NEW DELHI TO HOST GLOBAL BIG CATS SUMMIT IN 2026
In a major announcement, Minister Yadav said that India will host a Global Big Cats Summit in New Delhi in 2026, inviting all range countries to collaborate, share best practices, and strengthen conservation partnerships.
He urged nations worldwide to join IBCA and work collectively to protect big cats and their habitats.
Calling for international unity, the minister said the world is at a critical ecological juncture.
“We must collaborate, not compete. We must find strength not in isolation, but in solidarity,” he stressed, concluding with a powerful message. “Protecting big cats is protecting our shared planet. Protecting big cats is protecting our future.”
