Leading the Indian delegation at the G20 Environment Ministerial the Environment Minister underscored the need for a collective global action to tide over the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, and that the Developing Countries need every possible support more than ever before. The G20 Environment Ministerial Meeting held today at, Naples, Italy was attended virtually by the Indian delegation led by Shri Bhupender Yadav.

On ‘Nature Based Solutions’ (NBS) and Sustainable Finance, the Indian Environment Minister said that the contexts and perspectives should be guided by the stage of economic development, national circumstances and priorities, and must not come at the cost of developing countries’ competitiveness, equity and development.

For tackling marine litter, Shri Yadav emphasized that India have been taking voluntary regulatory measures on plastic waste management, and also recalled that in the 4thUnited Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in 2019, India had separately piloted a resolution No. 4/9 in the 4th UNEA on “Addressing single- use plastic products pollution”.

The Minister also mentioned about the initiatives taken by India on Resource Efficiency (RE) & Circular Economy (CE), and that the G20 Resource Efficiency Dialogue should also strengthen exchange of ideas, knowledge and best practices on RE & CE and support the transition to sustainable and equitable resource use for a better future

During the course of the daylong Meeting, India welcomed global initiatives like UNESCO’s International Environmental Experts Network; protecting at least 30% of global land area and oceans by 2030; Land Degradation Neutrality by 2030; Third Report on the G20 Implementation Framework for actions on Marine Plastic Litter; etc.

India also welcomed the G20 Dialogue on Water but reiterated taking into account national circumstances and priorities, and underlined the need for effective and implementable post 2020 biodiversity framework.