Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan today said BRICS nations face similar concerns like air pollution and climate change and stressed on the need for them to come together to tackle air pollution through technology transfer and requisite capacity building.
The minister also called for the judicious use of resources while advocating for bringing secondary resources (waste materials) into production and adopting a Circular Economy (CE) approach.
BRICS comprises of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
"BRICS countries should together emphasise on cooperation in air pollution control through technology transfer and requisite capacity building," he said.
Vardhan underlined that BRICS nations face similar environmental concerns such as waste management, resource crunch and climate change.
He urged the nations to commit to cooperation and collaboration on technology transfer, capacity building and knowledge transfer at the country, regional and global levels.
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"BRICS countries can complement, facilitate access to and provide adequate information on existing science, technology and innovation platforms, avoiding duplications and enhancing synergies," he said while speaking at the 4th BRICS Ministerial Meeting in Durban.
The minister said India would be pleased to contribute and provide further recommendations to the BRICS Environment Working Group on the modalities of the Partnership for Urban Environmental Sustainability Initiative (PUESI).
Vardhan expressed confidence that the proposals on BRICS Environmentally Sound Technology (BEST) platform, clean river umbrella, circular economy, ocean economy, biodiversity and integrated water resources management would further strengthen the cooperation for sustainable development.
He said a decrease in global materials, or at least stabilisation at present levels, demand major reductions in metabolic rates in the Asia-Pacific region, especially India.
Vardhan pointed out that this could become possible only through Resource Efficiency (RE) not only throughout the material life cycle, but also at the post-consumption stage.
"Secondary resources (waste materials) need to be brought back into production, adopting a Circular Economy (CE) approach," he said while emphasising that Resource Efficiency (RE) and CE were key elements of sustainable development and impact resource efficiency and that was why there was a global commitment to achieve it.
Outlining the contours of the Green Good Deeds movement in India, Vardhan said, "We are asking people to alter their behaviour to Green Good behaviour to fulfil their green social responsibility".
He urged the BRICS countries to jointly help in the development of a social movement that could be emulated by the rest of the world.
Minister of Water and Environment Affairs, South Africa, Bomo Edith Edna Molewa, Vice Minister for Environment, Energy, Science and Technology of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil, J Antonio Marcondes, DG, International Cooperation Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation, Nuritdin Imanov, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment, China, Huang Runqiu and representative of United Nations Environment Jorge Laguna-Celis were present on the occasion.
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