India hosted BRICS Environment Working Group meetings at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, under its 2025 BRICS Chairship. The meetings focused on multilateral environmental cooperation among BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — alongside newer member states. Key agenda items included climate action, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development frameworks. India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change led the engagement, reinforcing India's role in shaping BRICS environmental priorities during its chairship year.

BRICS is an intergovernmental grouping originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In 2024, it expanded significantly with new full members: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE, making it a broader bloc representing a significant share of global GDP and population. India held the BRICS Chairship in 2021 and again in 2025.

The Environment Working Group (EWG) is one of BRICS's thematic working groups, operating under the broader BRICS cooperation framework. It coordinates positions on climate change negotiations (particularly under UNFCCC/COP), biodiversity (under CBD), and multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). India's chairship of this group carries diplomatic weight: it allows India to set the agenda for environmental discussions among economies that collectively account for a large share of global emissions and natural resources.

Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi — inaugurated in 2023 — is India's flagship international convention centre that has hosted events like the G20 Summit. Its use here signals India's intent to project soft power through high-profile multilateral hosting.

For exam purposes, the key static knowledge layers are: BRICS founding history (2006 as BRIC, South Africa joined 2010), the 2024 expansion, India's rotating chairship years, and how BRICS environment cooperation intersects with global climate frameworks like UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement.