New Delhi, 17 August (H.S.): Senior officials of the BRICS Environment Working Group and the Climate Change and Sustainable Development Contact Group met at Bharat Mandapam on Monday under India’s BRICS Chairship 2026 to deliberate on key issues related to environmental protection, climate change and sustainable development.
The meeting was chaired by Tanmay Kumar, Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Representatives from all BRICS member countries — Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates — participated in the meeting.
During the discussions, the participants held extensive deliberations on common challenges related to environmental protection, climate change and sustainable development. Tanmay Kumar said that over the past two decades, BRICS had evolved beyond being a platform for economic cooperation and had emerged as an important forum for collective efforts to address environmental challenges such as pollution, biodiversity loss and global warming.
He said BRICS cooperation had now expanded to areas including climate resilience and adaptation, resource efficiency, the circular economy and environmental governance.
Under India’s chairship, four key areas have been accorded priority: promoting sustainable lifestyles; afforestation and forest-fire management along with disaster resilience; the circular economy; and climate adaptation.
The meeting was informed that since the beginning of India’s BRICS Chairship, 21 virtual thematic and dialogue meetings, 10 bilateral consultations, two thematic dialogues and two technical webinars have been organised among member countries.
Officials emphasised that climate resilience, ecosystem restoration, resource efficiency and sustainable development are closely interconnected issues. They stressed the need for an integrated and holistic approach to addressing these challenges.
Delegations from the member countries appreciated India’s efforts during its BRICS Chairship and commended the discussions conducted on the principles of mutual respect, trust and consensus-based decision-making.
The 12th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting will be held in New Delhi on Tuesday, August 18.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
