Leaders Meeting of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on Energy and Climate recognizes climate change as one of the biggest challenges with need for jointly upscaling action

The leaders meeting of Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Change, was convened virtually by United States of America on 20th April 2023. The meeting was chaired by President Joeseph Biden, USA and was attended by Heads of State and Ministers from across the world. Together the group represented 20 major economies of the world including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, European Commission, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.

The context for the meeting was set by Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Dr. Fatih Birol. He stressed on the urgency for climate action to limit the rise in global temperature. He also mentioned about the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s global call for LiFE i.e. Lifestyle for Environment and highlighted its relevance.

All the MEF leaders recognized climate change as one of the biggest challenges and echoed the need for jointly upscaling action. The leaders informed the forum about the steps being taken by different countries toward climate action that varied across sectors.

Shri Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change and Labour & Employment emphasized how India has been standing at the forefront of global efforts in combating climate change, with per capita emissions about one-third of the global average.

He highlighted the initiatives being taken in India to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from sectors like energy, transport, shipping, hydrofluorocarbons and initiatives for carbon capture utilization & storage. Recognizing the importance of climate finance, he also supported the proposed efforts on strengthening the financial capacity of MDBs through balance sheet optimization and additional capital infusion to address global challenges, including maintaining the focus on poverty reduction and SDGs.

While concluding his remarks, the Minister reiterated the importance of LiFE i.e. Lifestyle for Environment focusing on individual behaviour change towards combating climate change.