Delhi. A meeting of senior officials of the BRICS Environment Working Group and the Contact Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development was held on Monday under the chairmanship of India. In the meeting held at Bharat Mandapam, BRICS member countries discussed enhancing cooperation in four key areas to protect the environment and combat climate change. The meeting was presided over by Tanmay Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Representatives from Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa and United Arab Emirates participated in it.
Focus will be on these four areas
Four major priorities were specifically discussed in the meeting. These include promoting sustainable lifestyles, afforestation and forest fire management and disaster prevention, circular economy and climate adaptation. The officials stressed on further strengthening cooperation in these areas with sharing of experience and technical expertise among the member countries.
Emphasis on the role of BRICS in environmental challenges
Tanmay Kumar said that in the last two decades, BRICS has grown from being a platform for economic dialogue to becoming an effective platform to deal with serious environmental challenges like pollution, loss of biodiversity and global warming. He said there is a need to further strengthen cooperation in the fields of sustainable development, climate adaptation, resource efficiency, circular economy and environmental governance.
'Humanity a priority' India's presidency
Tanmay Kumar said that India's BRICS chairmanship is inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of people-centric global cooperation that gives priority to humanity. This year's theme 'Building Resilience, Innovation, Collaboration and Sustainable Development' reflects this spirit. It was informed in the meeting that after the commencement of India's presidency, so far 21 virtual thematic and dialogue meetings, 10 bilateral consultations, two thematic dialogues and two technical webinars have been organized among the member countries.
BRICS Environment Ministers Meeting
The delegations of BRICS member countries appreciated India's leadership. He said that India's role has been important in taking forward the discussion on priority issues in an environment based on mutual respect, trust and consensus. The 12th meeting of BRICS Environment Ministers will be held in New Delhi on Tuesday.