BRICS SENIOR OFFICIALS DISCUSS KEY ENVIRONMENTAL PRIORITIES
New Delhi, Aug 17, 2026 : Senior officials from BRICS member countries on Monday held discussions on key environmental priorities, climate change and sustainable development at a meeting in Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
The Senior Officers’ Meeting of the BRICS Environment Working Group and the Contact Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development was held under India’s BRICS Chairship 2026. The meeting was chaired by Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Tanmay Kumar.
Officials from Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates participated in the meeting.
Addressing the gathering, Tanmay Kumar said BRICS has evolved over the past two decades from an economic dialogue into an increasingly influential platform addressing major global environmental challenges, including pollution, biodiversity loss and global warming.
He said the partnership has expanded its focus to areas including sustainable development, climate resilience and adaptation, resource efficiency, circular economy and environmental governance.
The Chair said India’s BRICS Chairship has been guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of people-centric global cooperation and a humanity-first approach. The theme for India’s Chairship is ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability’.
During India’s Chairship, the Environment Working Group and the Contact Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development have advanced cooperation across four priority areas — promoting sustainable lifestyles; afforestation, forest fire management and disaster resilience; circular economy; and adaptation.
Tanmay Kumar said the priority areas reflect the common environmental challenges faced by BRICS countries and the need for integrated responses to climate resilience, ecosystem restoration, resource efficiency and sustainable development.
Since the beginning of India’s BRICS Chairship, member countries have held 21 virtual thematic and negotiation meetings, 10 bilateral consultations, two thematic dialogues and two technical webinars.
The deliberations are expected to contribute towards building consensus on key environmental priorities ahead of the 12th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting, scheduled to be held in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The participating delegations congratulated India on its leadership as BRICS Chair and appreciated the productive deliberations on priority areas, conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect, trust and consensus-based decision-making.