International
G20's First Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) Meeting
⇒ The G20’s First Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) Meeting under G20 India Presidency was held during 09th -11th February, 2023 in Bengaluru, at The Taj West End.
The 1st meeting of the Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) marked the beginning of constructive discussions within G20 countries for a sustainable future, led by India’s G20 Presidency.
Led By:
The three-day meeting of the ECSWG was led by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India.
The discussions revolved around the following three key priorities as identified by the G20 Indian Presidency.
- Arresting Land Degradation
- Accelerating Ecosystem Restoration and Enriching Biodiversity
- Promoting a Sustainable and Climate Resilient Blue Economy and Encouraging Resource
Day 1:
- The deliberations of the ECSWG under the G20 Sherpa Track commenced with the 1st meeting of the Working Group on February 09 at Bengaluru.
- Setting the tone for the ECSWG meetings, a discussion was held on how the theme of the India Presidency – Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: One Earth, One Family, One Future, is championing a fundamental mindset shift from a sense of ownership of natural resources towards trusteeship, sustainable lifestyles, inclusion and universal oneness.
- The first session of the three-day event concluded on a hopeful note to create a rich dialogue among all the delegates to shape a future where the world lives in harmony with nature.
Day 2:
- The discussions during the first half of the second day revolved around methods to restore land-based ecosystems affected by anthropogenic causes and enhancement of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
- In the second half, discussions were held on the creation of circular economies in various sectors, including steel and bio-waste, and the role of extended producer’s responsibility in the creation of a circular economy.
- The idea of a G20 industry coalition for resource efficiency and the circular economy was also tabled.
Day 3:
- The third and last day commenced with the session focusing on the ‘Sustainable and Climate Resilient Blue Economy’ theme.
- The Oceans and Blue Economy discussions covered a range of issues, including marine litter, conservation and enhancement of coastal and marine ecosystems, and marine spatial planning, over three meetings and one side event.
- The focus of discussions was on the problem of marine plastic litter and its adverse impacts.
- The Indian Presidency presented the inception report of the technical study on ‘Accelerating the transition to Sustainable & Climate Resilient Blue Economy’ that would cover all G20 countries and provide inputs for the development of high-level principles on ‘Sustainable and Climate Resilient Blue Economy’.
- It was also mentioned that Indian Presidency will publish the Fifth Report on actions against marine plastic litter under the G20 Framework for Marine Plastic Litter, in collaboration with Japan.
» Towards the concluding session, it was highlighted that the Indian Presidency plans to convene an Ocean 20 dialogue to facilitate detailed discussion on important aspects of the Blue Economy.
G20's 2nd Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) meeting
⇒ The G20’s 2nd Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) meeting was held on 27-29 March 2023 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
130 delegates from G20 member countries along with 11 invitee countries and 14 international organizations participated in the Second G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) meeting at Gandhinagar.
Building on the discussions from the first ESCWG, constructive deliberations among the G20 countries took place on the thematic areas:
- Arresting Land Degradation;
- Accelerating Ecosystem Restoration and Enriching Biodiversity;
- Promoting a Sustainable and Climate Resilient Blue Economy and Encouraging Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy.
Day 1:
- Ministry of Jal Shakti led the side event with thematic site visits to the Adalaj Vav, Sabarmati siphon, Sabarmati River front and Narmada main canal, showcasing India’s ancient water management practices and the nation’s long-standing tradition of conserving water resources.
- During other sessions of the day the G20 countries presented their best practices in Water Resource Management.
Day 2:
- The key inputs collated from deliberations over the 1st ECSWG, focused group discussions and the written inputs shared by the member countries was the highlight of the session on Biodiversity, Land degradation and ecosystem restoration during the pre-lunch session of the second day.
» The session witnessed engaging deliberations amongst the delegates on the two priority landscapes identified under India’s Presidency.
- Presentations were made on the proposed Gandhinagar Implementation Roadmap (GIR) and draft publications on compendium of best practices by experts from United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE).
» The deliberations of draft G20 documents on the four sub-themes identified under the Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy formed the key discussion points during the technical session on Circular Economy.
- The four sub-themes were – G20 Knowledge Exchanges in Circular Economy in Steel Sector, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Circular Economy and Circular Bioeconomy and the proposed G20 Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Industry Coalition
» India’s commitment to make the efficient and sustainable use of natural resources was an important aspect of the G20 talks, and the highlight of the Resource Efficiency Dialogue, which was further deliberated by the delegates.
Final day:
» The technical session witnessed engaging discussions to outline ways of effectively accelerating the transition to a sustainable and climate resilient Blue Economy.
- The delegates deliberated on the G20 High Level Principles for a Sustainable and Climate Resilient Blue Economy that was presented during the technical session.
- The technical study on Accelerating the Transition to a Sustainable and Climate Resilient Blue Economy was also discussed among the participating delegates during the session.
» Experts from various organisations made presentations emphasising the need for protecting and conserving coastal and marine ecosystems for a healthy ocean, ecosystem conservation from Blue Carbon initiative, mainstreaming Marine Spatial planning for a sustainable Blue Economy and MSP Global Initiative.
- Organisations such as National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO), United Nations Development program (UNDP) and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) made presentations.
» The concluding technical session of the day was on alignment of Global Biodiversity Framework 2022 and its implementation modalities under the priority of biodiversity, land degradation and ecosystem restoration.
» The focus of the session on Biodiversity was to accelerate the action on implementing the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework across G20 countries and concluded by posing three key questions for deliberation on the topic.
G20 India’s 3rd Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG)
⇒ The 3rd Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) meeting was held in Mumbai from May 21st-23rd, 2023.
- The main focus of this meeting was on steering the discussions around Communique with a more outcome-driven approach.
- The 3rd ECSWG meeting is a critical step in fostering the efforts of the G20 countries, invitee countries, and international organizations towards a sustainable and resilient future.
- The three-day meeting witnessed the participation of 141 delegates from G20 countries and 10 invitee countries. The representatives of 14 international and regional organisations also attended deliberations conducted over the 3 days.
The 3 priorities outlined for the ECSWG are:
- Arresting land degradation,
- Promoting Circular economy, and
- Giving impetus to Blue Economy.
All meetings focused on a specific theme out of these three themes.
Day 1:
» The 3rd ECSWG focused on Blue Economy and was supported by two side events – the Mega Beach Clean Up Event and the Ocean 20 Dialogue on Day 1 of the meeting.
» The G20 Mega Beach Clean Up event which kicked off the 3rd meeting of the Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group.
- The massive drive organized to sensitize people and create awareness is in alignment with the Prime Minister’s message on ‘Swachhta’ and ‘Jan Bhagidari’.
- The renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created captivating sand art on the beach aligned with the event’s theme, featuring the G20 logo along with Prakriti, the mascot for LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment).
» Day 1 of the meeting also witnessed extensive deliberations on the Ocean 20 dialogue, a platform for sharing best practices on science, technology, and innovation, policy, governance, participation, and blue finance mechanisms.
- These discussions were aimed at devising a solution for ensuring a sustainable and climate-resilient Blue Economy, aligning with the priorities of the G20 India Presidency.
Day 2:
- Amidst the rounds of deliberations at the 3rd ECSWG Meet in Mumbai, G20 India delegates visited the pavilions and appreciated the exhibits crafted by local artisans.
- They explored various stalls and acknowledged the efforts which will help ensure a sustainable future.
Day 3:
- The primary agenda of the 3rd ECSWG meeting was the detailed discussions on the draft Ministerial Communique and entailed constructive discussions and deliberations on priority areas.
- Picking up the thread from the Focus Group Discussions which had been conducted by the Indian Presidency over the past three weeks across all the three thematic priorities, the discussions were conducted with a steadfast resolve of being collaborative and inclusive.
- The outcome documents were discussed line-by-line and the member countries presented their respective viewpoints.
Next Meeting:
- The 3rd ECSWG meeting ended on a discussion mode on the Communique, to be further deliberated upon and refined in the virtual meetings scheduled over the next few weeks, as a run up to the 4th and final ECSWG meeting to be held in Chennai from 26th to 27th July, with the Minister’s meet on 28th July, 2023.