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21 May 2023, Mumbai – The final round of policy discussions on climate and the environment among the world’s twenty most powerful economies opens Sunday, May 21 in Mumbai, India. Over the course of three days, the 3rd Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group Meeting, organized under the G20 India Presidency, is preparing proposals for Environment Ministries to consider in a bid to reduce land degradation globally by 50 percent before 2040.

Dr. Muralee Thummarukudy, Director of the G20 Global Land Initiative Coordination Office, is participating in the meeting, which concludes on Tuesday, May 23. The G20 Global Land Initiative Coordination Office was established in 2020, under the Saudi Arabia Presidency, to support the G20 to achieve its ambitious goal.

The Climate Sustainability Working Group (CSWG) was initiated during the Argentine Presidency in 2018, while the Environment Deputies Meeting (EDM) was launched in 2019 under Japan’s Presidency. EDM and CSWG are tasked to address environment and climate issues, including resource efficiency, circular economy, ocean health, marine litter, coral reefs, land degradation, biodiversity loss, water resource management, and strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

In July, Environment Ministers are expected to review the Working Group’s recommendations and release the environment ministers’ communiqué outlining their commitments, when they meet in Chennai, India. Furthermore, they will propose actions for consideration by the G20 Heads of State, which will be included in the Leaders’ Declaration at their Summit in September.

Civil society groups are presenting their priorities and voicing their interests through Engagement Groups from the G20 countries. These groups include youth (Y20), women (W20), business (B20), global non-governmental organizations (C20), parliamentarians (P20), labor groups (L20), scientists (S20), auditors (SAI20), startups (Startup20), think tanks (Think20) and cities (U20). For media inquiries, please contact: wwischnewski@unccd.int