Russia
Source: en.interaffairs.ru

Yes, Southeast Asia has its reasons for pivoting to BRICS. ASEAN countries are lured by access to financing and a political movement independent of Washington’s influence, writes ‘The Asia Times’.
Thailand becomes the first Southeast Asian country to apply for BRICS, that shocks U.S.

In recent days, Malaysia detailed its ambitions to join Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Thailand and Vietnam are also among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations members expressing similar interest.

In Indonesia, there’s growing awareness that “Global South” nations have a point in vying to join this burgeoning intergovernmental organization.

During an interview with Chinese media ahead of Li Qiang’s visit to Malaysia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim declared his intention to join the bloc after it doubled in size over the last year. That dynamic is luring Global South nations — partly by offering access to financing but also by offering a political movement independent of Washington’s influence.

The Southeast Asia wrinkle could prove particularly problematic for US President Joe Biden. A hallmark of the Biden era since 2021 has been creating a regional bulwark against China’s rising influence and efforts to replace the US dollar in trade and finance.

What we’re seeing is a clear rupture in relations between the US and many ASEAN members. This, at a time when Saudi Arabia is looking to phase out the “petrodollar.” Riyadh is intensifying de-dollarization efforts as China, Russia and Iran line up against old alliances.

“A gradual democratization of the global financial landscape may be underway, giving way to a world in which more local currencies can be used for international transactions,” says analyst Hung Tran at the Atlantic Council’s Geoeconomics Center. “In such a world, the dollar would remain prominent but without its outsized clout, complemented by currencies such as the Chinese renminbi, the euro and the Japanese yen in a way that’s commensurate with the international footprint of their economies.”
In late May, Thailand announced it’s applying for BRICS inclusion in part to boost its presence on the world stage. If approved, Bangkok would likely become the first ASEAN economy added.

“Thailand views that BRICS has an important role to play in strengthening the multilateral system and economic cooperation between countries in the Global South, which aligns with our national interests,” notes Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura. “As for economic and political benefits, joining BRICS would reinforce Thailand’s role on the global stage, and strengthen its international cooperation with emerging economies, especially in trade, investment and food and energy security.”

Soumya Bhowmick, an associate fellow at the Observer Research Foundation think tank, says Thailand’s bid supports Beijing’s broader strategic goals of expanding Chinese economic influence in Southeast Asia.

Today, BRICS+ nations account for half the world’s population and two-fifths of trade, including top energy producers and importers. BRICS+ nations also account for 38% of global petroleum imports, led by China and India.

“As more big emerging markets join the BRICS+ nations, the grouping could give the Global South a greater voice in world affairs and challenge the domination of existing institutions,” says Daniel Azevedo, an analyst at Boston Consulting Group.

BRICS+, Azevedo adds, “creates a forum that, at minimum, gives emerging markets the opportunity to align on global topics and new opportunities to promote mutual economic development and growth. And it’s evolving steadily.”

Azevedo notes that as the BRICS build political and financial institutions and a payment mechanism for executing transactions, “there are important potential implications for the future of energy trade, international finance, global supply chains, monetary policy and technological research.”

As a result, Azevedo says, “global companies will need to factor these new geopolitical and economic realities into their investment strategies. They should also strengthen their capacity to capture the opportunities and to mitigate risk that they engender.”

Vietnam sent a delegation to Russia to attend the BRICS summit. There, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang said Hanoi is keen on collaborating with like-minded developing countries.
All this against the backdrop of deteriorating American finances – and at a moment of maximum political dysfunction. As the national debt approaches US$35 trillion – on the way to US$50 trillion – Biden’s Democrats and Donald Trump’s Republicans are barely on speaking terms.

The question now is how Moody’s Investors Service, which still grades Washington AAA, responds to election-year chaos as Trump angles for a return to power. And as Biden tries to out-Trump Trump with new trade sanctions.

This puts US Treasury securities at grave risk. Japan and China alone hold a combined US$2 trillion of US government debt. Any sudden run on the dollar could trigger a fire sale, sending US yields skyrocketing.

Such concerns are playing into the broader BRICS goal of pooling more than US$100 billion of foreign currency to act as a financial shock absorber. The funds can be tapped in emergencies, allowing members to avoid going to the International Monetary Fund. Since 2015, the bank that the BRICS created has approved tens of billions of dollars of loans for infrastructure, transportation and water.

The BRICS currency project has been gaining traction since mid-2022, when the 14th BRICS Summit was held in Beijing. There, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the BRICS were cooking up a “new global reserve currency” and were open to expanding its usage more widely. Brazil’s Lula also has thrown his support behind a BRICS monetary unit.

Analysts at Moody’s warn that the Americans going overboard on tariffs, concerns about default and weakening institutions are threatening the dollar’s reserve currency status.

“The greatest near-term danger to the dollar’s position stems from the risk of confidence-sapping policy mistakes by the US authorities themselves, like a US default on its debt for example,” Moody’s argues. “Weakening institutions and a political pivot to protectionism threaten the dollar’s global role.”
Now, as Southeast Asia leans toward the BRICS, it’s hard not to think that America risks losing far more than just the economic plot.

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Russia
Source: valdaiclub.com


This year, Russia will be hosting the BRICS summit in October in Kazan. Our governmental circles, our ministries and our NGOs are all preparing for the summit. It is considered the key foreign policy event in Russia this year. The top political question, as I personally see it, could be with regards to greater solidarity between the BRICS countries in the wake of the enlargement, and as new members have been invited to join the club. Their leaders will be present as new BRICS members. They have to adapt to the already existing structure of the agenda of the BRICS countries. So, the solidarity of the members is the key factor that could be proposed by Russia, and it could be developed in other presidencies of the BRICS in the coming years.

For the moment, if we see BRICS as an institutional structure, it is very important on the symbolic level as a symbol of a non-Western agreement or cooperation among the major non-Western countries. All of the BRICS summits’ annual declarations are very important in promoting a new set of values, a new set of principles for cooperation, for justice and equality in international relations, for the fight against poverty and so on, and for proposing some new decisions among the non-Western countries. The symbolic value of the BRICS was strengthened by the fact that immediately after February 24, 2022, many other non-Western countries expressed an interest in joining BRICS. Those countries had not done so previously, but now in a totally changed geopolitical situation, they decided that it would better suit their national interests to became members of the main non-Western political club.

So, the symbolic attractiveness and strength of the BRICS is, without a doubt, a real fact of political life in the current world. However, we must ask if it’s possible to develop (and transform, if necessary) the BRICS to make it a more real and efficient political, economic and financial power at the global level. To achieve this, what is important from my personal point of view, I repeat, is to strengthen the internal solidarity among the BRICS members. If an international structure could be effective at the global level now, in the current situation, the strength of the organizations doesn’t just indicate that good symbolic values were written in the Summit Declarations; it means there is real solidarity in terms of politics and economics among the members.

If we compare the BRICS with many other formats, like the G7 within the West, we are still at the beginning of our process. Now already for several years, the BRICS has been operating the New Development Bank as a new financial institution. This is an important step (but only the first) on the way to transforming the BRICS from a symbolic into a real power. Such a power could provide genuinely non-Western instruments and mechanisms to support and sustain development strategies and projects in the countries of the Global South and the Non-West.

In this context, one of the key challenges and possible strategic objectives for the future of BRICS is its role in the ongoing process of de-dollarising the global financial system.

The issue of de-dollarisation has recently been increasingly discussed in the expert and professional community. The actions of the United States and other Western countries to freeze Russian assets and their possible confiscation have had a serious impact on confidence in dollar-denominated financial instruments in other countries. The number of international trade transactions carried out not in dollars, but in national currencies, is growing both proportionally and in absolute terms. This trend is likely to continue in the medium term.

On the other hand, de-dollarisation has been talked about as a desirable goal, especially in non-Western and developing countries, for a long time. However, the situation as a whole, by and large, remains the same. Is it possible to do something in this regard, given the changed geopolitical and geo-economic conditions? Do the countries of the global non-West and South have sufficient political will to do this? Will the business community in these countries support this trend? All these questions seem extremely important.

In this context, natural interest is drawn to the activities and initiatives of the BRICS in the financial sector. I remember how a year ago, on the eve of the BRICS summit in South Africa, one could observe a very interesting media and expert discussion. Its essence was that in the irreversibly changing conditions of the modern world, it would be desirable for the BRICS to take a qualitatively new step in their financial policy. To set a medium-term goal of creating a single BRICS currency, or think through mechanisms to create a currency basket from the currencies of the BRICS countries, as well as their own payment mechanisms and systems.

Against the backdrop of these discussions, the actual results of last year's BRICS summit in Johannesburg turned out to be much more modest. If in the political sphere the BRICS put forward a truly large-scale and ambitious programme to expand its membership, then with regards to financial issues the summit limited itself to only instructing the finance ministers of the BRICS member countries to work on the issue of increasing the efficiency of settlements in national currencies in trade between BRICS members. There was no mention of any single currency (even as a far-reaching goal) in the official documents of last year’s summit. Thus, the aforementioned expectations before its implementation turned out to be extremely high, and at least at this stage of development, perhaps unrealistic.

The reason for this, in our opinion, may lie in the fact that none of the BRICS countries are ready to give up full sovereign control over their own currencies. This situation is unlikely to change in the near future. In addition, as the EU experience in introducing the euro shows, in order for the single currency to be stable and effective, it is necessary to harmonize the budgetary, tax and generally financial systems of the participating countries. It seems that for BRICS at this stage of its development and, we repeat again, with the level of solidarity that sometimes does not go beyond symbolic value declarations, this is also an unrealistic task.

In this regard, the question arises: is it possible to do anything in this area, besides facilitating the use of national currencies? Now, before the BRICS summit in Russia, one can observe a new expert discussion in this regard. One of the proposals that is currently being voiced is related to the introduction and distribution of digital currencies by the BRICS countries. A pool of these digital currencies, combined with a pool of national payment instruments (which should become interoperable), could be the first step towards truly strengthening de-dollarisation within the BRICS and broader non-Western world. At the same time, they will retain full sovereign control over the traditional currencies of the BRICS countries.

Since it is clear that one of the key financial actors in the non-Western world is China, and a lot will depend on its position here, it is proposed as a preliminary option to use the digital yuan for payments within the framework of the Belt and Road project. Since all the initiative of this programme are, in the good sense of the term, China-centric, and China retains sufficient control over investments, there are many risks from the transformation of the yuan into a new reserve currency (related, among other things, to China’s negative trade balance with a number of major partners) which will not be of significant importance. At the same time, as a platform for the testing of the digital yuan, the Belt and Road programme may look quite promising. Its experience can be used by other BRICS countries in their eventual strategy to develop digital currencies.

The future will show how practically feasible these proposals from the current stage of the discussion on de-dollarization will be. The upcoming BRICS summit in Russia will provide the first answers to these questions.

Belgium
Source: moderndiplomacy.eu

Is a Great Shift Catching Up?

The heyday of Western hegemony, which includes the US along with other global north nations, was marked by its dominance and influence over the majority of the sectors of the globe. Western hegemony is evident and prominent in global economics and trade, media, high politics, and the social and cultural climate of the world. The end of World War II solidified the dominance of Western hegemony (Wright, 2012), through the rise of institutions and NGOs.

Western nations being the primary donors of these institutions and NGOs, subsequently hold power and influence over these institutions. International institutions serve the very interest and purpose it was built for, to fulfill the interests of Western nations. Institutions and NGOs have slowly become trojan horses for the integration of global neoliberalism (Wright, 2012). Thus, western agendas are promoted and infiltrated through these institutions and NGOs. However, since the 21st century, there has been an increase in global south cooperations.

Global South countries are more inclined to bind with one another and form regional institutions of their own. This can be reflected through the establishment of BRICS, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa. Since then, BRICS has expanded to include more and more countries. Will these emerging global south institutions challenge the dominance of Western hegemony and mark the decline of Western hegemony?

Gramsci’s Concept of Hegemony and State Dynamics

Antonio Gramsci is an Italian Marxist philosopher and former General Secretary of the Italian Communist Party. Gramsci is credited with coining the concept of hegemony. According to Gramsci, hegemony is a political leadership based on the consent of the leader, the permission of which is achieved through polarization and diffusion viewed through the lens of the ruling class (Bates, 1975). The dynamics of state-to-state interaction, be it international or supranational, could not only be analyzed using class theory alone, hence the development of Gramsci’s hegemony theory. States are no longer instruments between classes but act to regulate and establish dominance over other states (Febriani & Hamdi, 2024).

Gramsci’s concept of hegemony describes how the ruling class utilizes dominant ideologies to mask its control over the masses (Febriani & Hamdi, 2024). Capitalism, according to Gramsci, not only dominates politically or economically but infiltrates the social and cultural sphere, thus maintaining the bourgeoisie values and status quo, instead of rebelling or questioning them. According to Gramsci, the ruling class or the states play a double role, that is to use both coercion (power) and consent (agreement). The state maintains control through these two roles, the actors set socio-political rules and establish moral and cultural norms/values, establishing a hegemony. This solidifies the existence of state power, however, power relies on gaining legitimacy through persuasion. For a revolution to successfully last, the ruling class’ very values need to be dismantled in society (Febriani & Hamdi, 2024).

In this sense, the West, or the Global North, holds the status quo as the ruling class, and the Global South as the one being controlled. For years the Global South has been under the control and domination of the Global North. The hegemony the West has upon the Global South transpires over the institutions they built. These institutions were constructed to serve all the global spheres, thus the infiltration of the Global North values was planted within these institutions.

BRICS and the Rise of Global South Institutions: Analytical Opinion

The establishment of BRICS marks the rise of new key players in the globe. These emerging players, although not directly posing a threat to the West, grow increasingly influential. As a result, these emerging powers are not inconsequential to the current global order. BRICS can continuously expand, to promote its interest, and to reach more and more states and emerging powers. These increases in power and influence can potentially pose a threat as BRICS challenges the West or the European view of defiance of the international order.

According to Keukeleire & Hooijmaaijers (2013), despite the differences, there are many mutual and common traits shared between the BRICS members. First, they possess a range of economic, military, and political power resources to contribute to the production of international order, regionally or globally. Second, they believe that they are entitled to more influence in global affairs. Third, they are not tied to any of the US’ international and multilateral reach or cooperations. All these factors play into the willingness and ability of the BRICS countries to strengthen their relations and promote alternatives to the international forums that are Western-dominated.

BRICS countries also actively call for reforms in the Western-dominated international forums. With the existing international institutions, it is clear that global south countries are often under-represented and most of the forums revolve around the West and what the West decides over the rest. BRICS is not afraid to challenge this already deeply-rooted narrative. Although the Western hegemony shaped the structure of international institutions, the rise of emerging powers challenges the very “Western principle” of structure itself.

Despite not posing as a direct threat individually, these combined emerging powers are something even the West could not underestimate. According to Gramsci (Bates, 1975), to challenge a hegemony and ultimately achieve social transformation, the subaltern class or the Global South emerging powers must ally with each other, that way a new historical bloc (one that breaks the structure that was created by the status quo) and collective will is born. This is called “counter-hegemony” when another emerging power establishes new values and order through a new ideology. Recently, signs of counter-hegemony can be observed through the rise of China exercising soft power in different regions, such as the African continent. If China continues to expand, China along with other emerging powers will take up bigger roles in global affairs, challenging the status quo and bringing in their values and ideologies as a collective, posing as counter-hegemony.

China
Source: news.cgtn.com

Editor's note: The world is entering a new period of turbulence and change, with issues of concern emerging one after another worldwide. Against this backdrop, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation maintains its position as a comprehensive cooperation grouping which contributes to regional development, peace and stability. With this year's SCO summit to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, on July 3-4, our special series of articles, "Shanghai Spirit in a Chaotic World," looks at the SCO from different perspectives. In this first article of the series, Yaroslav Lissovolik, founder of "BRICS+ Analytics," a member of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, focuses on the economic cooperation of developing countries in Eurasia. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Kazakhstan from July 3 to 4, 2024, will take place at a crucial juncture for the regional organization as the economies of the developing world are bolstering their efforts to coordinate their policies on a wide range of global issues, including rising security tensions, mounting protectionism in the world's economies, and intensifying competition in high-tech space.

All these challenges will call for a concerted effort from the SCO members to raise the importance of economic cooperation in the agenda of the organization, most notably with respect to trade, and financial sector cooperation, as well as coordination in the flow of investment and labor migration.
In the sphere of economic integration, the SCO could become the main platform for the Eurasian developing economies – the trend of closer South-South integration is taking on a greater scale with a rising number of developing economies joining the SCO. After the accession of India and Pakistan in 2017, another Eurasian heavyweight to become a member was Iran in 2023. The next country to join the group could be Belarus – and the approval could come as early as the upcoming SCO summit in Kazakhstan.

Besides the current three observer states, there was also a sizable widening in the ranks of the dialogue partners in 2022 and 2023 to include such economies from the Middle East as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It should be noted that the expansion in the SCO throughout the past several years has progressed in tandem with the BRICS expansion of 2023 and 2024, with several economies such as the UAE and Iran becoming BRICS members as well as raising the level of cooperation and involvement with the SCO. This creates scope for greater coordination between the SCO and BRICS going forward and indeed this year's Russian presidency in BRICS is advocating greater co-integration between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), SCO and BRICS.

Taking the BRICS-SCO-EAEU initiative one step further, the SCO's outreach to counterparts from the developing world could be expanded via the creation of a platform for Eurasia's main regional blocs from the developing world that apart from the SCO core may also include the EAEU, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The expanded platform that brings together the main regional integration groupings in Eurasia could develop a roadmap for regional trade liberalization among developing economies, and serve as a key framework for advancing the "integration of integrations" format of South-South cooperation.
The Baiterek Tower in Astana, Kazakhstan, June 29, 2024. /Xinhua

In the financial sector, the SCO economies need to devise platforms for financing large-scale infrastructure projects in Eurasia. The demand for such connectivity projects remains significant from the landlocked economies of Central Asia such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan with the region already benefiting from China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

The SCO economies could accordingly discuss the creation of a platform for national and regional development banks that would co-finance projects in the infrastructure sphere. Another option to explore is the creation of an SCO development bank that would complement the efforts of other development institutions in bridging Eurasia's "infrastructure gap."  

Given the elevated security threats in Eurasia and restrictions on migration coming from developed economies, there will be a need to advance cooperation in regulating migration flows between the members of SCO.

Indeed, some of the most sizeable South-South migration flows are observed among the economies of the SCO core as well as the group's dialogue partners. Among the key "donor-recipient" pairs of such migrant flows in Eurasia are the Pakistan-Saudi connection, and the Russia-Central Asia migration flows. The importance of coordination in the labor migration sphere also has to do with the crucial role of remittances for Central Asia's economies in poverty reduction and balanced economic growth. 

Overall, the agenda at the SCO summit in Astana is broad and will call for increased coordination among the group's core members and their partners in the economic sphere. The trends in the remainder of this year will make such coordination even more critical as the importance and intensity of South-South trade, investment and migration flows are set to rise in the face of mounting protectionism coming from the advanced economies. The latter trends may well be exacerbated by the further swings in the electoral cycle in Europe and the U.S. in the second half of 2024.

The SCO summit presents a unique opportunity for developing economies to prepare for the tectonic shifts that are set to reconfigure the global economy in the coming years.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on X, formerly Twitter, to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)

Russia
Source: brics-russia2024.ru

The meeting of the BRICS Coordination Committee on Antimonopoly Policy took place on 2 July 2024 in Geneva as a key event for the BRICS countries in the field of antimonopoly regulation.

During the event, the participants discussed current issues of cooperation between the BRICS competition authorities, summed up the interim results of interaction and outlined the priority areas for further joint work in the coming period.

The role of the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre in providing methodological support to the activities of the BRICS competition authorities, was unanimously commended, and the need to increase its potential was recognized.

Following the meeting of the BRICS Coordination Committee, representatives of the BRICS countries unanimously adopted a Joint Statement of the Heads of the BRICS Competition Authorities on consolidation of efforts to maintain healthy competition in socially significant markets.

The participants welcomed the holding of the IX BRICS Competition Conference in South Africa in 2025, and Brazil’s BRICS Chairship in 2025.

The Roscongress Foundation manages the events of Russia’s BRICS Chairship.

Russia
Source: brics-russia2024.ru

The 14th Meeting of BRICS Agriculture Ministers took place in Moscow on 28 June. The event was chaired by the Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Oksana Lut and attended by the relevant BRICS agency representatives, who discussed the development of sustainable agriculture, the creation of a BRICS grain exchange, and other related issues.

In her address to the participants, Lut noted the superiority of the BRICS resource base, with more than 30% of global agricultural land, and the complementary nature of agricultural economies. The great variety of environmental, demographic, and socio-economic conditions translates into a wider variety of products, meaning BRICS countries have an enviable position on the global agricultural market and can do much to prevent interruptions to supplies and ensure global food security.

According to Lut, one result of Russia’s BRICS Chairship this year has been the general report on the implementation of the Action Plan 2021–2024 for Agricultural Cooperation, approved at a previous meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Agriculture. The Russian Minister of agriculture noted the significance of the progress that had been achieved in implementing the provisions of the Plan. A new Plan taking into account the countries that have joined the association will have to be developed and approved as part of the Brazilian chairship in 2025. Lut emphasized Russia’s willingness to help with the development of the new document.

The meeting ended with the adoption of a Joint Declaration reflecting all the priorities of Russia’s Chairship. The document will help bring the partner countries into alignment on a wide range of issues affecting the further development of mutually beneficial agro-industrial cooperation.
The Roscongress Foundation manages the events of Russia’s BRICS Chairship.

Russia
Source: brics-russia2024.rulink

On 28 June, the 10th BRICS Environment Ministers Meeting was held in Nizhny Novgorod under the chairship of the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation Alexander Kozlov.

The Ministers Meeting wrapped up two days of working group meetings, where experts discussed the BRICS Partnership for Urban Environment Sustainability Initiative (PUESI), the implementation of the BRICS Clean Rivers programme, and the role of the younger generation in solving environmental problems. Separate sessions were devoted to the development of forestry and adapting to climate change.

Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation Alexander Kozlov noted that BRICS always gives priority to work in essential areas – areas that have the potential to unite all countries. He called on new BRICS member countries to join the initiatives that are already under way.

“The BRICS Environmentally Sound Technology (BEST) Platform is a mechanism for putting proposals into practice. It currently runs two main initiatives: the BRICS Clean Rivers programme and the BRICS Partnership for Urban Environment Sustainability Initiative. The mechanism is universal – each country identifies a priority topic as an initiative for the Platform, taking environmental, economic and social factors into account. This means that countries both put forward initiatives and act as the ‘driving force’ in their implementation,” Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation Alexander Kozlov said.

“The UAE understands the importance of cooperation and coordination in the search for effective solutions to the climate problem. We are doing everything we can to mitigate climate change, promoting the idea of sustainable development on the global stage through knowledge exchange and cooperation. The UAE is making every effort to ensure a sustainable future. Like the other BRICS countries, the we are exploring innovative solutions and technologies that will help us achieve the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement. We are committed to promoting sustainable development on the global stage,” said Undersecretary of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed Saeed Sultan Al Nuaimi.

“We believe that BRICS, in line with its mission, will rightly play a key role in developing cooperation in the field of capacity building through technology transfer and the provision of technical, financial, and advisory assistance, including the exchange of knowledge and experience. We will also promote joint projects, the exchange of experts and key professionals, and South–South cooperation,” stressed Vice President and Head of the Department of Environment of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ali Salajegheh.

“Extreme climate events, the loss of biodiversity and desertification transcend political borders. They create enormous problems for the global community. Environmental cooperation is not only desirable – it is absolutely necessary. What we have here is an opportunity to move towards a more sustainable, just and equitable world. Brazil considers sustainable development an absolute priority,” said Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of the Federative Republic of Brazil João Paulo Capobianco.

“Climate change is taking a huge toll on Ethiopia’s rich biodiversity and fragile ecosystems. We are witnessing the rapid degradation of our forests, the drying out of wetlands, and the disappearance of many species of plants and animals. Not only does this disrupt the delicate balance of our natural environment, but it also undermines the lives of communities that depend on these resources. The devastating effects of climate change are hitting Ethiopia’s poorest the hardest. The global community needs to act now, as one, to overcome this crisis. Ethiopia is ready to do its part, but we cannot do this alone. We must face this challenge together in order to ensure a sustainable future for our people, and for the entire planet,” noted Minister of Planning and Development of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Seyoum Mekonen Hailu.

“BRICS has made significant progress on the environmental agenda and is committed to expanding its activities in the fight against climate change. All this is being done in the context of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and other multilateral agreements that are aimed at finding solutions, building partnerships, and supporting efforts to combat pollution and protect biodiversity,” said Director General of the Department of Environment, Forestry, and Fisheries of South Africa Nomfundo Tshabalala.

Minister of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China Huang Runqiu noted that work will continue to promote the establishment of environmentally sustainable urban partnerships between Chinese cities and cities in the BRICS countries. “Practical work is being carried out in the field of urban planning, the creation of carbon trading systems, and technologies for preventing and mitigating environmental pollution. China plays a key role in the so-called BRICS clean technology platform, and we are creating an international centre for exchange and interaction, where innovative approaches to environmental protection are exchanged. China has also been instrumental in organizing exchanges of environmental protection specialists,” Huang Runqiu said.

At the end of the meeting, Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation Alexander Kozlov noted that Russia was hoping that the BRICS member countries would support its initiative to create a BRICS Environmental Youth Network, which would aim to get schoolchildren and college students involved in implementing an environmental policy that goes beyond one-off volunteer activities such as planting trees or collecting rubbish.
A joint final statement was adopted by the heads of the delegations at the end of the meeting.

The Roscongress Foundation is the official organizer of events held as part of the Russian Federation’s BRICS Chairship.

Russia
Source: brics-russia2024.ru

The 6th Meeting of the Working Group on Research Infrastructure and Mega-Science Projects was held at the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna on 3 July as part of Russia’s BRICS Chairship.

The members of the working group confirmed their interest in co-operation on neural sources, synchrotrons, underground laboratories, the environment, and interdisciplinary projects.

“I have no doubt that the Working Group’s sixth meeting will stimulate further co-operation on science and technology within BRICS. Science unites. It erases borders. Together we face global challenges, and together we find solutions,” Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Olga Petrova said.

The BRICS countries’ representatives capitalized on the opportunity presented by the meeting to discuss the 2024–2025 Research Infrastructure Action Plan, which will be submitted for consideration and inclusion in the BRICS Ministerial Declaration on Science, Technology, and Innovation.
The development of the flagship BRICS GRAIN project (designed for joint visits and operation of research facilities) and of policies for transnational access to research infrastructure were also discussed.

The Roscongress Foundation manages the events of Russia’s BRICS Chairship.