Opening remarks by the Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Mr Narend Singh at the second G20 Environment and Sustainability Working Group meeting, Mpumalanga, 14 July 2025
Delegates from G20 member countries
Delegates from invited guest countries
Delegates from international organisations
Delegates from South African institutions and partners
Ladies and gentlemen
A warm welcome to you all!
I am excited to welcome you to this second meeting of the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group being held here at Skukuza, in the iconic Kruger National Park.
I wish to reiterate what was said during the first G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) meeting in March this year, we are less than five years away from our deadline to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the end of this critical decade for climate action. Yet we are still far from attaining these goals and action targets. Poverty levels are worsening, pollution from hazardous chemicals has been increasing, and greenhouse gas emissions reached record highs last year, as reported. This calls for an urgent acceleration of our efforts. Our commitment to achieve these goals must not waver, as we are all negatively affected. That is why South Africa has placed solidarity, equality and sustainability at the centre of our G20 presidency.
Poverty, unemployment, hunger, inequality, environmental degradation and climate change are but a few of the formidable and interconnected issues facing the world today. The complexity of these issues, and their fundamental interdependency, as well as the increasingly global nature of market, finance, trade and technology frameworks, calls for enhanced reforms, inclusivity, cooperation and collective action amongst the nations of the world. This is against the backdrop and within the context of rapidly changing geo-political context.
South Africa’s G20 presidency has outlined an ambitious agenda for this working group. Following the successful convening of the inaugural meeting of the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) virtually from 25–28 March 2025, the original five inter-related priorities have now been expanded into six, with the splitting of the climate change and air quality priorities into separate areas of focus, which will provide us with an opportunity to delve into these two key issues more deeply and systematically.
We are heartened and encouraged by the support for the priorities for the ECSWG proposed by South Africa from G20 member countries as well as the invited guest countries at the first ECSWG meeting. Since the first meeting in March this year, we have been hard at work developing the programme, deliverables and other key outcomes under this working group.
As stated previously, these priorities have been carefully chosen. They build on the successes and key outcomes of the previous G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group presidencies, particularly those of Brazil, India and Indonesia, and are also aligned to the objectives contained in the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the Africa We Want, the blueprint for the continent’s sustainable development.
It is noteworthy that a detailed communications and outreach programme as well as a work programme for the G20 ECSWG for 2025 have been developed and a wide range of technical papers corresponding to each priority area have been drafted. Other expected deliverables for the remainder of South Africa’s presidency include ongoing stakeholder engagements and events, including but not limited to – bilateral meetings with G20 member states; workshops; themed dialogues, side-events; seminars; and conferences to ensure alignment and coordination. Some of these have already taken place.
During this meeting, we will present the draft technical papers under each of the six priorities and envisaged outcomes as well as the deliverables of the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group in more detail. We look forward to fruitful discussions on these and obtaining your views and inputs as we continue on this journey together.
The first priority area, biodiversity and conservation, focuses on sharing experiences on the national biodiversity strategies and action plans and their role in effectively realising the aspirations and ambition of the global biodiversity framework. Indeed, the G20 can play a crucial part in halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030, aiming for a ‘nature-positive world’ for the benefit of people and the planet. Building on the Brazilian presidency’s initiative on bioeconomy, this priority area will also deal with the role of the bioeconomy, nature and wildlife economy in contributing to livelihoods of communities. Here, we recognise the critical role of traditional and indigenous communities in biodiversity stewardship and anti-poaching, as a foundation for sustainable livelihoods.
We have also recognised the importance of addressing the issue of environmental crime within the G20. Indeed, in many countries endowed with large forests and rich biodiversity as well as other natural resources, the risks of illegal logging, illicit mining, poaching and wildlife trafficking are threatening achievement of environmental, economic and social developmental imperatives. It is therefore important that as the G20, we send a strong and clear message in this regard.
The second priority area is land degradation, desertification and drought, including water sustainability. It is recognised that achieving land degradation neutrality requires three concurrent actions, namely avoiding new degradation of land by maintaining existing healthy land; reducing existing degradation by adopting sustainable land management and regenerative practices, focusing on integrated water resource management, while increasing biodiversity, soil health, and food production; and scaling up efforts to restore and return degraded lands to a natural or more productive state.
Given the limited resources to address environmental problems in today’s global economy, there is a need for us as countries to pool our resources together to address these challenges in a synergistic manner. Therefore, focusing on land degradation neutrality represents a major opportunity to contribute to sustainable development by scaling up good practices and pilot activities through large-scale transformative projects and programmes. These initiatives can generate multiple benefits, including positive changes in human well-being, poverty alleviation, and the restoration of terrestrial ecosystems and their services.
Importantly, we aim to navigate these complexities with the respect of the rights of landholders, especially of marginalised, traditional and indigenous communities.
The third priority focuses on chemicals and waste management, which includes the sub-priorities of sustainable chemicals management; the circular economy; waste management; waste to energy; and extended producer responsibility implementation. The G20 can notably support the development of a legally binding international treaty to combat plastic pollution, as agreed at the United Nations Environment Assembly in 2022.
This priority area recognises, inter alia, the importance of promoting and increasing capacity for the circular economy as a regenerative system designed to minimise resource input, waste, emissions, and energy loss by promoting activities such as design for longevity, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishing, and recycling.
Furthermore, the continued and growing global demand for, and supply and use of, pesticides and industrial chemicals, as well as mounting waste from rapid increase in critical minerals mining and processing present a significant health and environmental risk if poorly managed. Opportunities to transition relevant sectors to safe and non-chemical alternatives exist; it is upon us as a collective to realise that we are faced with the challenge of increased pollution from chemicals. This is an issue which this working group is well-positioned to address.
The fourth priority area is on climate change, with a focus on the just transitions beyond the scope of the energy transition; adaptation and resilience, loss and damage, and now this priority also includes a sub-priority on mitigation within the context of low carbon economic development and other co-benefits beyond the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The urgency of climate action and the provision of the requisite support, on mitigation and adaptation, as well as loss and damage, cannot be overstated. The G20 process provides an opportunity to deliberate on and agree to steps to accelerate climate action and support at the required scale reflected in the outcome of the first global stocktake.
As a primary outcome of our G20 presidency this year, South Africa will explore ways that the G20 can leverage opportunities to increase the scale and flows of climate finance. It is paramount for developing economy countries to be actively supported in their efforts to achieve ‘whole of society and whole of economy’ just transitions to sustainable development on the ground, through scaled access to low-cost finance, technology, capacity development and skills transfer.
The fifth priority area is now dedicated to air quality. It is also increasingly recognised that many people across the globe are exposed to unhealthy and often deadly levels of air pollution, and that the impacts of air pollution extend beyond health – affecting climate, biodiversity, ecosystems and economic development. This is also a key issue which needs to be addressed, and to which this working group can contribute. Furthermore, we should not lose the significance of the synergies between decarbonisation and the improvement of air quality.
The final priority area is on oceans and coasts, which focuses on the importance of marine spatial planning as an integrated approach to improving the rational planning, management and governance of the ocean space and marine resources. Marine spatial planning is also critical as a resilience investment, to protect people and critical infrastructure from a climate change-driven increase in extreme weather events.
More broadly, the blue economy approach can make a significant contribution to the livelihood of coastal communities around the globe as well as addressing climate change. Its sustainable, long-term development should be promoted and enhanced through collective action at the level of the G20. It is also recognised that plastic pollution poses a significant threat to coastal and marine environments, affecting marine life, human health, and livelihoods, which needs to be addressed in an integrated and coordinated manner.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our final working group meeting and ministerial meeting will be convened on 13–15 October in Cape Town, where it is expected that the final versions of the technical papers and final draft of the ministerial declaration will be discussed. This will be followed by the G20 ECSWG ministerial meeting in Cape Town on 16–17 October 2025, where it is envisaged that the ministerial declaration and the other deliverables of the ECSWG will be presented.
The Cape Town meetings will also include a number of side events as well as excursions where you will also have an opportunity to experience that part of our country’s unique natural heritage, such as Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch our iconic apex national botanical garden, as well as Agulhas II our world leading ice breaking research vessel.
Of course, while we are here at Skukuza, we will not only be focusing on the content-related aspects during the course of this week. We will also have time to enjoy the world-renowned Kruger National Park and provide an opportunity to experience South Africa’s world-class conservation and rich biodiversity first hand.
In conclusion, I wish to appreciate that so many of you have made the long journey to join us here at Skukuza in the Kruger National Park, which I trust you will enjoy South African hospitality and the warmth of our people, as well as our fabulous wildlife and spectacular natural scenery. I wish you all a great experience at the Kruger National Park!
I thank you.
To access Deputy Minister Singh’s speech (audio), please click on the link:
https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/files/images/audio/singh_g20ecswgkruger_opening.mp4
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