India is hosting the 12th BRICS Environment Ministers Meeting in New Delhi on August 18, 2026, preceded by the BRICS Senior Officers' Meeting of the Environment Working Group and Contact Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development on August 17, 2026. The event is being held under India's BRICS Chairship 2026 theme of 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'.
Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav will preside over the Environment Ministers' Meeting, which will provide a platform for ministers, senior officers, policymakers, and experts from BRICS member countries to engage in substantive discussions, foster consensus, and strengthen environmental cooperation.
India has identified four priority areas for focused engagements under the BRICS Environment Working Group: Promoting Sustainable Lifestyles through mindful consumption and community practices; Afforestation, Forest Fire Management and Disaster Resilience through land restoration and advanced data collection; Circular Economy through waste management practices and Extended Producer Responsibility frameworks; and Adaptation through people-centric, community-led climate adaptation built on traditional knowledge.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change initiated preparatory discussions through a series of virtual meetings, technical sessions, webinars, and dialogues from March to July 2026, including dialogues on BRICS Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy, Aligning Carbon Markets with Adaptation Goals, and webinars on addressing Land Degradation, Desertification and Drought, and Integrated Approaches to Wildfire Management for Disaster Resilience.
The BRICS Environment Working Group was established in 2015 during the first BRICS Environment Ministers' Meeting in Moscow, while the Contact Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development was established in 2024 as a mechanism for cooperation on climate change issues among BRICS member countries.