On 30th July 2020, Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) participated in the 6th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Environment Ministers’ Meeting under the presidency of Russia along with the Environment minister of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa over a virtual platform from New Delhi.
- The BRICS nations called the initiative to improve the environment and promote the circular economy in national plans for economic recovery after COVID-19.
- The needs for the BRICS nations to work as a group for the Post 2020 Biodiversity Framework was highlighted in the meeting.
- The meeting was preceded by the BRICS working group meeting.
- India will assume the Presidency of BRICS in 2021.
Key People:
The Ministers of Environment from BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa participated in the meeting.
To Improve Environment:
i.Prakash Javadekar, the need to implement the initiatives under BRICS and the implementations of BRICS MoU.
ii.He offered that India could provide a platform to showcase the best environmental management practices of BRICS Countries.
iii.He mentioned that sharing of the best practices among the BRICS nations will support in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
iv.He discussed the efforts of India in sustainable urban management, tackling marine litter, air pollution, cleaning of rivers and other areas.
v.He also stated that Equity, Common but differentiated responsibilities, finance and technology partnership are the key components to achieve the goals of climate change mitigation and adaptation and India is working towards achieving its Climate commitments and Paris Agreement on Climate change.
BRICS Environmentally Sound Technology (BEST) Platform:
The BRICS Environment Ministers established BRICS Environmentally Sound Technology (BEST) Platform and observed that it is of fundamental importance that we develop existing areas of development within the BEST Platform, setting clear expectations in terms of the results.The BEST Platform, which was set up virtually, could serve as an invaluable mechanism to facilitate the exchange of information views and sharing of the best practices on BRICS countries including post COVID-19 environment/sustainable development recovery programmes.
India’s Efforts towards Air pollution:
i.India launched Air Quality Index monitoring 10 cities in 2015 which is currently extended to 122 cities.
ii.The National Clean Air Programme launched in 2019 with an aim to reduce the air pollution by 20-30% relative to 2017 level by 2024.
Key Points:
i.The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the social vulnerability which resulted in significant job losses and unemployment.
ii.Due to the global pandemic the climate change negotiations have been delayed and the 26th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP26) will be held in November 2021.
iii.The nations acknowledged that COP26 offers the opportunities for the countries to work together and share the knowledge on the climate positive economic recovery package.
iv.The 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15) which was scheduled to be held in October 2020 in Kunming, China was postponed due to the global pandemic.
Click here to read the joint statement.
About BRICS:
Presidency– Russia (India will assume the Presidency of BRICS in 2021)
Members– Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa
Establishment– 2009
Theme for 2020– “BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth”.
Recent Related News:
i.The G20 Trade and Investment Ministers meeting was held virtually where Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal participated through a video conference.
ii.Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar participated in G-20 Extraordinary Agriculture Ministers Meeting through video conference to address the issue of COVID-19 impacts on food security, safety and nutrition.
