Environment and climate sustainability have been rightfully included in the global growth and development discourse.

Apart from a few denialists over the years, there is general consensus from the global community that we can no longer pretend that these are future problems.

They are in fact, today's problems.

And the evidence is undeniable.

The world is experiencing, in real-time, the extinction and critical endangerment of various species of animals, prolonged droughts and land degradation, increasing ocean pollution and overfishing,

as well as increasing incidents of floods and inclement weather patterns.

These problems are not unique to a single country, region or continent but rather, are global - from deadly wildfires in Canada and Greece, to devastating floods in South Africa and Pakistan, to unprecedented heatwaves across Europe and North America.

Climate change and environmental degradation are not limited by borders and the impacts thereof have rippled across the globe costing lives, livelihoods, economic decline, and service delivery.

They ripple across economies, disrupt global supply chains, exacerbate inequality, and deepen existing social and political tensions.

Despite the urgency, progress remains slow and uneven with much of the world's climate and environmental commitments remaining underfunded, fragmented, and often undermined by short-term political will or economic interest.

It is clear that no single country or region can solve these problems alone. The scale and complexity of environmental complexities require extraordinary levels of international coordination, solidarity, and investment.

The foundations of international environment and climate cooperation.

International discourse and attention on matters of the protection and conservation of the world's natural assets has evolved over a number of years.

Environmental and climate change awareness grew around the 1950s due to the major advancements in science at the time, such as the introduction and strengthening of technologies such as satellite tracking and computers.

Political conversations on climate change grew stronger, increasingly making inroads in the international agenda from the latter half of the 1970s all the way into the late 1980s.

Subsequently, this led to the establishment of various key international agreements and organisations, including the adoption of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),

the Convention on Biological Diversity, the establishment of the United Nations Environmental Programme, and in recent years, the adoption of the Paris Agreement - a historic step in global climate diplomacy.

Multilateral mechanisms are equally essential for aligning priorities, sharing best practices, fostering innovation, and mobilising financial and technical resources.

The G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) is one such platform playing a crucial role, specifically to ensure that economic development and cooperation doesn't take place at the expense of environmental protection and climate action.

Under the South African G20 Presidency, the ECSWG is led by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and has six priorities: Climate Change; Air Quality; Biodiversity and conservation; Land degradation, desertification and drought; Chemicals and waste management; and Oceans and Coasts.

These priorities have been carefully selected to respond to the present-day crises, whilst also pre-empting the environmental complexities of the future.

The future is now

Building on the work of previous Presidencies, including Brazil and Bali, two G20 ECSWG meetings were hosted in March and July, which have laid a solid foundation for the final technical meeting and Ministerial on 13-17 October 2025.

Here, the world will be watching as G20 members seek to find common ground to conclude and adopt a strong Ministerial Declaration.

To be truly meaningful, the Ministerial Declaration must build on the decades of progress and development that has already been made on matters of the environment and climate change.

Ultimately, the choice is clear - we either adapt to the realities of a changing planet, or we face the steady unravelling of the very economies we are trying to build.

With the right political will and levels of cooperation, the G20 ECSWG has the power to shape a bold environmental and climate sustainability agenda, accelerating progress toward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.

#KnowYourG20 | Nothing can grow if we don't have a liveable environment