The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change hosted the Senior Officers' Meeting of the BRICS Environment Working Group and Contact Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development on August 17, 2026, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by Shri Tanmay Kumar, Secretary of MoEFCC, with participation from nine BRICS member countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa, and United Arab Emirates.
Under India's BRICS Chairship 2026, which operates under the theme 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability', the group has focused on four interconnected priority areas: Promoting Sustainable Lifestyles; Afforestation, Forest Fire Management and Disaster Resilience; Circular Economy; and Adaptation. The chair noted that BRICS has evolved from an economic dialogue into a platform addressing critical environmental challenges including pollution, biodiversity loss, and global warming.
Extensive preparatory work preceded this meeting, including 21 virtual thematic and negotiation meetings, 10 bilateral consultations, 2 thematic dialogues, and 2 technical webinars. The senior officers' meeting aimed to build consensus on key priorities, with the 12th BRICS Environment Ministers' Meeting scheduled to follow in New Delhi. Participating delegations congratulated India for its leadership in bringing together member countries through productive deliberations based on mutual respect, trust, and consensus-based decision making.