This G20 meeting had three priorities, which included arresting land degradation, promoting circular economy and giving impetus to the blue economy. All meetings happened over three days and were focused on specific themes.
The 3rd Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) meeting under India’s G20 presidency, concluded in Mumbai with a commitment to facilitate tangible outcomes through a consensus driven approach. In this way, the three day meeting proved remarkable. This high profile event witnessed a participation of 141 delegates from G20 countries and 10 invitee countries. 14 international and regional organizations also attended the deliberations and shared their opinion.
The meeting had three priorities well outlined to be discussed upon, which included arresting land degradation, promoting circular economy and giving impetus to the blue economy. All meetings happened over three days and were focused on specific themes.
There were also two side events– Mega Beach Clean Up Event and the Ocean 20 Dialogue on Day 1 of the meeting. The Mega Beach Clean Up Event at Juhu in Mumbai was a highly successful event, which saw participation from 20 countries and 37 Indian beaches from the coastal states and Union Territories.
This Mumbai beach drive was organized to sensitize people and create awareness. The effort was well in alignment with the message of ‘Swachhta’ and ‘Jan Bhagidari’. It also highlighted the significance of the ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ concept and the importance of individual actions in tackling the menace of marine pollution.
The beach cleaning event was not only a manifestation of sustainable coastal management and ocean economy, but was also very closely connected to the larger issue of marine pollution. It also reflected the fact that our own behavior has an impact on the environment. Attended by more than 16,000 volunteers, it went on with a pledge to keep the beaches clean.
The event also saw ‘Ocean 20 Dialogue’, which brought together international experts, innovators, community representatives, policymakers and industry leaders to facilitate discussions on aspects related to emerging science-technology-innovation driven solutions, challenges associated with effective and inclusive policy and governance, and avenues for establishing finance mechanisms to support national and regional Blue Economy endeavors.
The second day of the meeting also remained quite engaging and fruitful, as several topics of importance were discussed by the delegates.
The objective of the three days meeting was to discuss the draft ministerial communique. Its primary agenda also included entailing constructive discussions and deliberations on priority areas.
Hence, the discussions were conducted with a steadfast resolve of being collaborative and inclusive by picking up the thread from the focus group discussions. The outcome documents were discussed line-by-line and the member countries, who also presented their respective viewpoints.
The meeting concluded on a discussion mode on the communique to be further deliberated upon and refined in the virtual meetings scheduled over the next few week as a run up to the 4th and final ECSWG meeting, which will be held in Chennai from 26th to 27th July and the minister’s meet would be on 28th July, 2023.
