The Group pools its members' experience and know-how, and makes it freely accessible to the global community through different projects and virtual platforms. It connects multiple stakeholders: policymakers, business, academia, science and civil society, with a special focus on youth and women, particularly affected by environmental degradation. Its main projects are the Climate Adaptation Accelerator and the Knowledge Hub on Water Solutions.
The Group is steered by the ministers of foreign affairs, who meet annually on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly and give impulses for the Group's joint actions in line with international priorities and needs. The Group's members often take on leading roles in environmental multilateralism, for example the UAE as the host of COP28 and Costa Rica as the co-host of the UN Ocean Conference 2025.
The group was established in 2009 and is coordinated by Slovenia.