The G20 Meeting on environment and climate sustainability is scheduled to take place from March 27-29, in Gujarat
Amitabh Kant, the sherpa for India at the G-20, will open the second working group’s meeting on environmental and climate sustainability on March 27 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Three conclaves will be held in this round, which will go on until April 4.
Of these three upcoming events in the state, the first meeting on "Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG)" will take place between March 27 and 29 in Gandhinagar, said IAS officer Mona Khandhar, who is coordinating G20 events in Gujarat.
"This is the second meeting of ECSWG. It will be inaugurated by G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant in the presence of several senior central government officials and subject experts," said Khandhar, who serves as Principal Secretary (Economic Affairs) in the state finance department.
Some of these dignitaries include Leena Nandan, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Debashree Mukherjee, Additional Secretary - Water Resources, Ministry of Jal Shakti and G. Ashok Kumar, Director General, Mission for Clean Ganga, she told reporters.
Officials from the Central Water Commission, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme and the Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services would also participate, said the senior bureaucrat.
"Representatives from nearly 30 countries, including the United States, Argentina, Brazil, China, France and Germany, will take part in the three-day event," said Khandhar.
On the first day, discussions will be held on the subject "Best Practices on Water Resources" and other related topics. Later, guests will be taken to the famous Adalaj Stepwell, the Narmada canal syphon on the Sabarmati River, and the Sabarmati Riverfront. On March 28, technical sessions would take place on five focus areas - climate resilient infrastructure, groundwater management, water sanitation and hygiene, climate change mitigation, resource efficiency, and the circular economy, she said.
On March 29, technical sessions will be organised on topics related to oceans, sustainable blue economy, conservation of marine and coastal ecosystems, and marine spatial planning, among others, the IAS officer said. Two pavilions with the themes "Project Lion-Project Dolphin-Project Elephant '' and "Banni Grassland-Great Indian Bustard" will be presented by the state and central forest departments, respectively.
As per a release by the PIB (Press Information Bureau), the second meeting in this series on the topic "Disaster Management" will be held in Gandhinagar from March 30 to April 1.
India currently holds the year-long presidency of the Group of 20 (G20), which comprises 19 countries across continents and the European Union (EU).