4-Jun-2023: G20 India Presidency: 3rd HWG Meeting

“The threat of pandemics is far from over. The need is to integrate and strengthen One Health-based surveillance systems.” This was stated by Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare during her address to the 3rd Health Working Group meeting under G20 India Presidency, here today. Shri G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Prof SP Singh Baghel, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog were also present on the occasion.

Underlining the importance of global collaboration and partnerships, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar said that “the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted that partnerships are most fruitful only when developed during peacetime and not amidst an ongoing pandemic; and that we need to focus on creating resilient health systems, with primary health as its cornerstone.” She further stated that “partnership we share as G20 members is vital and facilitates in building trust, sharing knowledge, creating networks and working together to achieve meaningful impact and results.”

Dr Pawar also highlighted the need for availability of safe, effective and quality medical countermeasures. Stating that India’s G20 Presidency is working towards building consensus for an end-to-end Global Medical Countermeasure (MCM) ecosystem, following a Network of Networks approach and leveraging existing global and regional initiatives, Dr Pawar urged the leadership of G20 countries to create an interim platform which will be guided by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) process and will feed into the same.

Acknowledging the convergence between G7 and G20 priorities, including the launch of MCM Delivery Partnership during Japan’s G7 Presidency which aligns with G20’s proposal of an end-to-end MCM ecosystem, Dr Pawar urged the global community to strengthen ongoing efforts in that direction. “Pandemics may not wait for the finalization of the Pandemic Treaty and hence, the time to act is now”, she stated.

Dr Pawar also informed the delegates of India’s proposal of a Global initiative on Digital Health, a WHO-managed network to converge ongoing initiatives in use of technology in the global health arena. She stated that “this initiative can enable bridging the digital divide amongst nations and ensure that the fruits of technology are made available to every citizen of the world.”

Underscoring the contribution of Indian traditional knowledge systems to healthcare, Shri G Kishan Reddy stated that “Indian traditional knowledge system propagated preventive and holistic wellbeing for all”. He highlighted the significant impact of Ayurveda and Yoga across the world. He stated that “Indian civilization and cultural heritage has given us the Ayurveda or the Science of Lives which is a five-thousand-year-old medical practice. Similarly, Yoga has emerged as one of the most trusted practices to boost both physical and mental wellbeing.”

Highlighting the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister to make India one of the new hubs of medical value travel, the Union Tourism Minister said that India is home to affordable, efficient and reliable healthcare which positions the country as a go to destination for medical value travel. He also informed that India is among the top ten countries preferred by people all over the world for health and wellness.

Shri Kishan Reddy stated that “India takes great pride in being a reliable partner in the noble vision of saving lives and protecting livelihoods” and highlighted India’s recognition as the “Pharmacy of the World”. He stated that the Genome Valley in Hyderabad alone contributes close to 33% of world’s vaccine production.

The Union Tourism Minister emphasized that India is committed to achieving universal healthcare for all by 2030. He concluded his speech by stating that “there cannot be a better platform than the G20 to support, harness, and facilitate the power of Universal Healthcare to build a healthy and motivated world”.

Prof S P Singh Baghel noted that pandemic prevention, preparedness and response require diverse multilateral efforts. “The recent Covid 19 pandemic taught us that only through a sustainable health system a sustainable economy can be built. Effective pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response can only be facilitated through continuous interventions in the health sector at the regional, national, and global levels”, he stated.

The Union Minister stated that India aims to ensure best health facilities, vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics for all through the platform of the G20. He commended the efforts of the G20 Joint Finance and Health Task Force and the G7 for prioritizing the issue of financing health systems and societies in the face of an emergency, besides preparedness financing. He also noted that International Financial Institutions and Multilateral Development Banks and Funds like the Global Fund and Pandemic Fund can play a significant role in assisting resource-constrained regions to build common goods and public capabilities.

Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary stated that “’Health for All’ is an important agenda outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals. It was also a pertinent theme in the recently concluded 76th World Health Assembly”. He noted that the theme of India’s G20 Presidency, i.e., “One Earth, One Family, One Future” also alludes to the wider concept of Universal Health Coverage. Underscoring the need to converge the ongoing parallel discussions in Global Health Architecture in Health Emergency Preparedness, Prevention and Response; Medical Countermeasures and Digital Health, he stressed on the need to break the existing silos and reduce fragmentation. “It is critical to integrate all existing global health initiatives, global and regional health processes like G7, G20 and UNGA by jointly harnessing our strengths for a fit-for-purpose global health architecture”, he stated.

The Indonesian and Brazilian Troika members commended the Indian Presidency for underlining the three health priorities. They stated the need to collectively accelerate our efforts towards strengthening pandemic preparedness, prevention and response measures and create a fit-for-purpose global health architecture.

17-May-2023: 3rd Energy Transitions Working Group (ETWG) meeting under India’s G20 Presidency concludes in Mumbai

The 3rd Energy Transitions Working Group Meeting (ETWG) under India’s G20 Presidency concluded in Mumbai today (May 17, 2023).

The three-days’ meeting witnessed participation of over 100 delegates from G20 member countries, special invitee countries and International Organisations such as World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Economic Forum, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), International Energy Agency (IEA), Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), International Solar Alliance (ISA), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), United Nations International Development Organization (UNIDO), and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

The 3rd ETWG Meeting was chaired by Shri Alok Kumar, Secretary of the Ministry of Power, Government of India and ETWG Chair. Shri Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, Secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Shri Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary of the Ministry of Mines, were also part of the meeting and deliberations.

The primary agenda of the 3rd ETWG meeting was the detailed discussions on the draft Ministerial Communique and entailed constructive discussions and deliberations on priority areas. Member countries presented their respective viewpoints. There has been consensus on the proposals in the areas of energy transitions under India’s G20 Presidency. Most notable is the consensus on giving high priority to ensure universal access to modern and sustainable energy to all.   

On the sidelines, the three-day meeting was complemented by eight side events. The side events witnessed participation of various stakeholders – policymakers, multilateral organisations, financial institutions, business organizations and subject experts.

1. Workshop with Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) with the aim for mobilizing low-cost international finance – The discussions focused on ensuring providing access to finance to countries that would enable the scale-up and implementation of critical and emerging technologies such as battery storage, green hydrogen, offshore wind, Bioenergy, and Carbon Capture Utilisation.
2. Seminar on Just Transition Roadmap – The Seminar deliberated upon challenges faced in Just Transition in the coal sector, primarily in coal-dependent economies. The discussions covered lessons learnt from various countries in different aspects, namely, Institutional Governance, Repurposing land and infrastructural assets, enabling sharing of knowledge of successful initiatives taken worldwide and also for facilitating technological and financial assistance through collaborations.   
3. Seminar on Biofuels – The Seminar focused on ways to accelerate development and deployment of biofuels, including new technologies through strengthening the alliance on collaboration and advancements in biofuel including creating a Global Biofuel Alliance.
4. Seminar on Off-shore wind - The event titled “Harnessing Offshore Wind for accelerating energy transition: The Way Forward” provided a platform to aggregate knowledge and best practices for boosting progress on offshore wind in India and globally.
5. Sharing global policies and best practices to decarbonize ‘Hard to Abate sectors’ - The objective of the side event was to understand challenging aspects of industry transition. It examined various issues such as policy alignment and formulation, technology collaboration, finance mobilization, capacity and skills development, and related aspects of industrial decarbonization.
6. Seminar on SMRs (Small Module Reactors) for Clean Energy Transition - This Seminar brought together various stakeholders - industry, policymakers, public sector enterprises, private sector companies, regulatory bodies, and international agencies to deliberate upon the key issues with respect to SMRs development and deployment.
7. Synergizing the Energy Transition Pathways of G20 ETWG and B20, India Industry perspective - This was aimed to exchange high-level commitments through the G20 and business actions from forums like the B20. This event was organised in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), as the designated Secretariat for B20 India.
8. Accelerating Energy Efficiency and promoting an energy efficient life – The event brought together Mission Efficiency partners, leading energy efficiency stakeholders, and country representatives to increase focus and provide momentum for ambitious actions on energy efficiency, including through G20 processes, and showcased India’s leadership in promoting energy efficient behaviors and lifestyles through the LiFE Campaign (Lifestyle for the Environment). 

The discussions and progress on draft Ministerial Communique will be taken forward in the 4th Energy Transitions Working Group Meeting, scheduled to take place in Goa from July 19-20, 2023.

8-May-2023: India’s G20 Presidency: Third Development Working Group Meeting

The first day of the 3rd Development Working Group (DWG) meeting began with an engaging and insightful side event on women-led development, one of India’s key G20 priority areas. The event was organized by the G20 Secretariat in partnership with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

The side event commenced with an opening address by Samir Saran, who spoke on the need for not just greater inclusion and empowerment of women but also new leadership that will proliferate in the coming decades. He mentioned that the side event is an attempt to bring people together to think aloud to collectively prepare for a future that will create the enabling environment that will allow for the full and effective participation of women as active agents of change and  be lead as decision makers.

Emphasizing the need to build generational equality, Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary Nagaraj Naidu in his welcome address said we must unlock women’s full potential through a women-led development approach. He underlined that women’s ability to participate equally in the markets; their access to and control over productive resources, access to decent work, control over their own time, lives and bodies; and increased voice, agency and meaningful participation in economic decision-making not only spurs productivity and economic growth, but is essential to achieve peaceful societies, realizing its full human potential and sustainable development.

The event started with a session on “Women and Economy: Emerging Sectors and the Future of Work”, followed by a spotlight session on “Women’s Leadership in the Uniformed Services”, and another on “Agents of Change: Climate Resilience and Food Systems”.

The session on “Women and Economy: Emerging Sectors and the Future of Work” started with addresses by Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM, and Samantha Hung, Chief of Gender Equality Thematic Group, Asian Development Bank, followed by a special address by María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, Executive Director, GWL Voices, and Former President of the 73rd session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. This was followed by a panel discussion between Baratang Miya, Founder and CEO, Girlhype, Women Who Code; Susan Ferguson, Country Representative, UN Women; Kajal Ilmi, Founder, MD and CEO at Aviom India Housing Finance, moderated by Charu Malhotra, Managing Director, Primus Partners.

Stressing that women-led development is indeed a very significant issue, María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés said that to shift the narrative from women’s development to women-led development carries profound repercussions. At its core, women-led development is about power sharing and equality. For building a gender-equal, fair and sustainable world, she highlighted 5 issues that need to be resolved: redistribute unpaid care responsibilities, close the gender digital divide, increase the representation of women in STEM fields and close the literacy gap, ensure women’s economic empowerment and more representation in politics.

The first session shed light on several key topics such as reimagining systems to ensure equal access to education in STEM and digital skill development, ways to address the double burden of care work that is placed on women from a policy perspective even as women occupy leadership roles in the formal economy, and investments needed for reskilling, upskilling, and capacity building to ensure that women are trained for jobs of the future.

The spotlight session on “Women’s Leadership in the Uniformed Services” focused on women in the Indian Navy, from serving in the medical corps and as pilots, to managing logistics and education as well as taking part and even leading the confinement for the Republic Day Parade.

Commander Shazia Khan, Lieutenant Commander Swati Bhandari, Lieutenant Commander Tavishi Singh, Lieutenant Commander Disha Amrith, Lieutenant Commander Roopa and Lieutenant Commander Dilna shared their experiences as medical officers, in naval aviation, as naval constructors, and leading the Republic Day parade naval contingent. The session was moderated by ORF President Samir Saran.

The final session, “Agents of Change: Climate Resilience and Food Systems”, by a panel discussion between Suranjali Tandon, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, and Vera Helena Thorstensen, Head, Centre for Global Trade and Investment Studies, Brazil.

The session threw light on the need to ensure women’s participation and leadership for building climate resilience and resilient food systems. Women bear the brunt of the climate crisis, which further deepens gender inequalities, risking their livelihoods and health. It is crucial that women’s priorities are reflected in the planning, development, and funding of national and local level climate policies. Panelists discussed the need to promote women’s entrepreneurship in green sectors and strengthen women-focused investments in climate and disaster resilience, policy interventions that can support women’s engagement in climate-friendly food systems and expanding food supply chains, and innovative financing instruments that can support gender-responsive climate and food system programmes and interventions.

The closing remarks were delivered by Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary Eenam Gambhir, who stressed that increasing the potential of women as leaders is a critical long-term investment for organizational success, national prosperity and quality of life and more women in leadership roles bring in innovation and human-centric solutions.

Women-led development is supported by several international frameworks, including the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In order to achieve SDG 5 of gender equality, it is crucial that women have a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making.

The panels closed with all the panelists calling on the G20 Development Working Group to work towards an actionable outcome that will contribute to building generation equality, and unleash women’s full potential through a women-led development approach, which calls for women’s full, equal, effective and meaningful participation as decision makers for addressing global challenges effectively, decisively and inclusively.

2-Apr-2023: 2nd G20 Energy Transitions Working Group Meeting commences in Gandhinagar

The 2nd Energy Transitions Working Group (ETWG) meeting under India's G20 Presidency commenced in Gandhinagar today. Union Minister of State for AYUSH and Women and Child Development, Dr. Munjpara Mahendrabhai Kalubhai in his inaugural address emphasized India's G20 Presidency's commitment to finding immediate and pressing solutions to global warming, climate change, and energy security. The Minister highlighted the need for research and development of innovative technologies to promote clean energy and make it cost-effective and reliable.

More than 100 delegates from G20 member countries, special invitee countries, and International Organizations, including International Energy Agency (IEA), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), European Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and International Solar Alliance (ISA), are taking part in the meeting to engage in discussions and deliberations on priority areas.

During the inaugural event, the Union Minister mentioned about the importance of the 'LiFE campaign' or 'Lifestyle for the Environment campaign' introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He urged individuals and communities to drive and build it as an international mass movement towards mindful and deliberate utilization of resources, protecting and preserving the environment.

Shri Alok Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Power, Govt. of India, stressed the importance of identifying collective action to promote equitable, shared, and inclusive growth among G20 members. He urged member countries to collaborate and build a sense of trusteeship to achieve a clean energy transition. He also highlighted the major schemes envisaged by the Government of India, including the Green Hydrogen Mission, Energy Transition, Energy Storage Projects, Renewable Energy Evacuation, Green Credit Program, PM-PRANAM, GOBARdhan Scheme, Bhartiya Prakritik Kheti Bio-Input Resource Centres, MISHTI, Amrit Dharohar, Coastal Shipping and Vehicle Replacement.

Six priority areas are the focus of the meeting including energy transition through addressing technology gaps, low-cost financing for energy transition, energy security and diversified supply chains, energy efficiency, industrial low carbon transitions, and responsible consumption, fuels for the future, and universal access to clean energy and just, affordable, and inclusive energy transition pathways. A Seminar on Global Green Hydrogen Ecosystem -Enabling Net Zero Pathways was held as side event to the meeting. As part of the 2nd ETWG Meeting, delegates also visited Gift City in Gandhinagar.

Under India's Presidency, four ETWG meetings, various side events, and a Ministerial Meeting have been planned to advance global cooperation in clean energy transition and make it central to the agenda of sustainable economic development.

30-Mar-2023:  India’s G20 Presidency: 2nd Sherpa Meeting

India’s G20 Presidency Secretariat, Government of India, in collaboration with the United Nations in India and Observer Research Foundation (ORF) hosted an official G20 Sherpa Meeting side event on Green Development: Need for an Ambitious Vision for 21st Century.

“India wants to be ambitious, inclusive, decisive, and action-oriented in taking the green development and SDGs agenda forward,” asserted Amitabh Kant in his welcome remarks, kickstarting discussions on the need for a new vision for green development.

“What should be the overarching nature of the G20’s green development agenda, especially in context of the significant and persistent financing gap?” asked Shamika Ravi, who moderated the panel discussion on A New Paradigm for Sustainable and Green Development. Jeffrey Sachs responded by stating, “The world should aim to have at least an incremental US$ 1 trillion every year to finance sustainable development for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries.” Elaborating on the EU’s role, Nina Fenton stated, “There is so much more that needs to be done. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant declines in investments on the development front and the world should strive to respond with greater urgency.”

Speaking on the urgency of the multilateral action needed to bring about “green development”, Ovais Sarmad noted, “The world is already at 1.1 degrees global warming, costing us many lives and livelihoods. A people-centric approach at COP28 and unequivocal commitment from the G20 to achieve the targets set within it will be crucial.” Bogolo Kenewendo stressed on the G20’s need to, “re-think and build coherence around the commercial value of nature that can incentivise greater accountability from countries around the world.”

Avinash Persaud further emphasised that, “The dichotomy between development and climate goals is false. They represent the same window of opportunity to tackle challenges such as poverty and inequality on a global scale.”

Several speakers drew attention to how, in the last decade, India has managed to balance economic growth with advancement of the SDGs and implementation of some of the most ambitious policies for accelerated climate action. This is especially relevant as India is putting forward a bold agenda for improving financial flows for sustainable development and for equitable climate action, and is setting the agenda for global sustainable consumption through the “Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE)” approach.

Some Key Takeaways from the day were:

To ensure an effective green transformation, following emerged as critical check points for the G20 to work on:

• Building coherence around economic, social, and environmental goals through recognising the commercial value of long-term investments in human and natural capital.
• Ensuring continuity in the G20’s efforts to make energy accessible for the most vulnerable communities, pushing forward agricultural reforms, and building towards sustainable cities and lifestyles, in addition to promoting just transitions for green development.
• Recognising the opportunities for course correction while at the same time pushing for concerted efforts for adaptation to ensure resilience and equity.
• Accelerating climate and development finance flows to the developing world through increased collaboration among diverse stakeholders.
• Achievement of the SDGs would require substantial scaling up of investments in all forms of capital, making the MDBs fit for purpose, incentivising private sector participation, and pushing for an increased focus on debt and concessional finance for vulnerable countries.
• To ensure convergence of the global policy space and international finance, the prospects of economic growth and job creation from additional long-term investments must be highlighted to build a compelling political and economic case for sustainable and green transformations.

The Plenary sessions of G20 Sherpa meeting will commence tomorrow. Shri V Muraleedharan, Hon’ble MoS for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs will  deliver special remarks at its opening session.

24-Feb-2023: First meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors under India's G20 Presidency

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the first meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors under India's G20 Presidency via video message, highlighting the challenges faced by the global economy, including the COVID-19 pandemic and its after-effects, rising geopolitical tensions, and disruptions in global supply chains. He emphasized that the leaders of the global economy need to bring back stability, confidence, and growth. The Prime Minister also highlighted the optimism of the Indian economy and urged the member participants to draw inspiration from it.

The Prime Minister stressed the need for an inclusive agenda to win back the confidence of the world and for progress on Sustainable Development Goals, which seems to be slowing down even though the world population has crossed 8 billion. He emphasized the need to strengthen Multilateral Development Banks to meet global challenges like climate change and high debt levels. The Prime Minister also talked about the growing dominance of technology in the world of finance and how digital payments enabled contactless and seamless transactions during the pandemic.

The Prime Minister highlighted India's highly secure, trusted, and efficient public digital infrastructure in its digital payments ecosystem, which has radically transformed governance, financial inclusion, and ease of living in the country. He also informed about the new system created during India's G20 Presidency that allows G20 guests to use India's path-breaking digital payments platform, UPI, and how it could be a template for many other countries. The Prime Minister concluded by urging the member participants to explore and harness the power of technology while developing standards to regulate its possible risk of destabilization and misuse in digital finance.