Environment minister: BRICS frontrunner in ecological transition
Opening the 11th meeting of BRICS environment ministers under the Brazilian presidency on Thursday (Apr. 3), Brazilian Minister for the Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva highlighted the capacity of developing countries to lead a just global ecological transition. Initially formed by Brazil, Russia, China, India, and South Africa, the bloc also includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran.
“We represent around half of the world’s population and 39 percent of the global GDP. More than ever, the BRICS [countries] are becoming a breeding ground for innovation, as they are rich in cultural diversity, with strategic resources and an immense quantity and quality of natural capital,” she argued.
The meeting of BRICS ministers aims to delve into four topics: desertification, land degradation and drought; preserving and valuing ecosystem services; plastic pollution and waste ingestion; and collective leadership for climate action—in line with Agenda 2030, the United Nations’ (UN) global plan to promote sustainable development by that year.
The topics were proposed by Brazil to the BRICS Environment Working Group in a bid to guide the activities that will result in the ministerial declaration and the annual work plan. The final texts will define the routes to environmental cooperation from 2024 to 2027.
According to Minister Silva, the work plan to be presented at the end of the assembly is the outcome of months of talks among the technical teams of the BRICS countries and includes around 50 activities surrounding air quality, environmental education, biodiversity, waste and chemical management, water resources, coastal and maritime zones, and climate change.
Drawing on the joint effort launched by the president-designate for the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), André Corrêa do Lago, she called on the nations to unite against the impacts of climate change.
“The impacts on our people—especially the most vulnerable—natural ecosystems, and economies require concrete and urgent measures to increase the current pace of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.
In this connection, she stressed the role of countries raising their ambitions in the presentation of the third generation of the nationally determined contribution (NDC). So far, among the BRICS members, only Brazil and the United Arab Emirates have announced their targets for slashing greenhouse gas emissions.
“This is a fundamental step towards ensuring the implementation of the commitments we have made so far in the Convention on Climate Change. Brazil did its homework and presented in Baku [the capital of Azerbaijan] the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 59 to 67 percent by 2035 compared to 2005,” she noted.
