Under India’s BRICS Chairship 2026, Senior Officers’ Meeting of the Environment Working Group and Contact Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development was held in Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on 17th August 2026. The meeting was chaired by Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, Shri Tanmay Kumar. The proceedings witnessed participation from BRICS member countries including Federative Republic of Brazil, People’s Republic of China, Arab Republic of Egypt, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Republic of Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Russian Federation, Republic of South Africa and United Arab Emirates.
In his keynote address, the Chair stated that over the past two decades, the BRICS alliance has expanded from an economic dialogue into an increasingly influential platform for defining its approach to the critical challenges facing the environment, including pressing global issues of increasing pollution, biodiversity loss as well as global warming. He said, “Our partnership has broadened in terms of relevance to sustainable development, climate resilience and adaptation, resource efficiency and circular economy, as well as environmental governance.”
The Chair informed that BRICS 2026 has been guided by the vision of the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, that global cooperation must remain people-centric by advancing a humanity-first approach. This vision finds expression in the Chairship theme – ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability’. India has sought to advance environmental action through approaches that integrate ecological sustainability with development objectives, it was stated.
Over the course of India’s Chairship, the Environment Working Group and the Contact Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development have together advanced cooperation across four interconnected priority areas: Promoting Sustainable Lifestyles; Afforestation, Forest Fire Management and Disaster Resilience; Circular Economy and Adaptation.
The Chair stated that these priorities reflect both the shared environmental challenges confronting the BRICS countries and the collective wisdom and strength to address them. They reflect the unanimous recognition that climate resilience, ecosystem restoration, resource efficiency and sustainable development are deeply interconnected challenges that require integrated and holistic responses rather than isolated interventions in silos.
It was informed that since the commencement of India’s Chairship, Member Countries have engaged through 21 virtual thematic and negotiation meetings, 10 bilateral consultations, 2 thematic dialogues and 2 technical webinars, reflecting an extraordinary level of commitment to advancing the shared agenda. The marathon deliberations would culminate in building a consensus on the key priorities during the Senior Officers’ meeting being held today.
Concluding the address, the chair expressed confidence that the spirit of co-operation and mutual respect which has guided the collective dialogues and discussions so far would continue to guide the deliberations today. The 12th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting is scheduled to be held in New Delhi tomorrow.
The participating delegations from the BRICS member countries congratulated India for its successful leadership as the BRICS Chair and bringing together each side through productive deliberations on the priority areas, under an atmosphere of mutual respect, trust and consensus-based decision making.
