Eugenia Prokapchuk
Analyst at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies of the National Research University «Higher School of Economics». . . .

Source: https://globalaffairs.ru/articles/briks-v-brazilii-prokopchuk/
Photo: https://russiancouncil.ru/analytics-and-comments/analytics/briks-kak-sistemnyy-vyzov-dlya-vashingtona/?sphrase_id=244212065

The XVII BRICS summit was held in Rio de Janeiro. His slogan was the motto «Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance»The leaders of Brazil, India, South Africa, Indonesia and Ethiopia took part.

Is the BRICS summit a breakthrough? The meeting was fruitful, but not as bright as the Kazan summit last year. Western observers, analyzing the results of the summit, suggest that the importance of BRICS and multilateral meetings in this format is falling – due to the risks associated with sharp criticism and threats of the United States, the absence of key figures of Vladimir Putin (who joined the summit on the VKS, Russia was represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov) and Xi Jinping (who first missed this event) and the general impression that the summit was soon «General rehearsal» The COP30 climate conference will be held in Belen in November.[1] Commentators argue about the reasons for the lack of leaders of the two key powers, but suggest that this gave Brazil a chance to play a major role in promoting the BRICS agenda. «The main voice of the Global South». . . . Did the host party manage to do that?
The summit focused on sustainable development and combating climate change. On the one hand, the developing countries whose interests are represented by the BRICS suffer from the consequences of global warming more than the developed world. On the other hand, the leading members of the association are fast-growing economies that consume large amounts of energy. Today, they generate a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, although the main responsibility for climate change is borne by developed countries, whose economic model has flourished for decades due to the burning of hydrocarbon fuels of various kinds.

In the scientific and political community, the debate on how to allocate responsibility (modern and historical) for CO2 emissions and how to combine the right to development of the poorest countries with the inexorable degradation of the environment due to the expansion of economic activity does not cease.

The situation is ambiguous – it is not surprising that this ambiguity also affected the outcome of the meeting. Without a doubt, the host country has tried to make a significant contribution to the development and implementation of climate policy. While critics point to the continued high share of hydrocarbons in Brazil’s energy mix, the country is generally one of the recognized leaders in decarbonization. Brazil leads the G20 in renewable energy. Over the past ten years, the country has made a leap in clean technologies: in 2023, 89 percent of electricity comes from renewables (hydro, wind and solar), three times higher than the global average.[2] Brazil has also made significant progress in sustainable agriculture and combating deforestation. During the BRICS summit, Lula da Silva proposed several «The Greens are» initiatives. Brazilian leader announced his intention to create an international fund «Tropical Forests Forever» (Tropical Forests Forever Fund, TFFF) at the UN-sponsored COP30 in Belen.[3] The New Development Bank plays an important role in climate finance. The leader noted that 40 per cent of his resources would be allocated for support. «The Greens are» Initiatives for adaptation and assistance in energy transition to developing countries[4]. One of the most important results of the summit is the adoption of the BRICS Framework Declaration on Climate Finance (the document will be officially presented in October,[5]), aimed at improving financial mechanisms for supporting sustainable development.

However, critics note that the final documents do not contain any wording on the refusal to merge from hydrocarbons. The declaration notes that «Fossil fuels will continue to play an important role in the global energy mix, especially for developing countries and emerging economies.»and emphasizes «The need to promote a fair, orderly, equitable and inclusive energy transition»[6] [6]. This circumstance confirms - «The Greening» BRICS will continue to occur unevenly and at different rates. In addition, the parties have repeatedly called on the developed world to provide «Predictably predictable». . . . «available available» And that's it. «Benefits of the» financial resources for developing countries. It is not clear, however, which states will provide assistance and whether it will be sufficient, given the extent to which they will provide assistance. «There's a hole.» In the global climate budget, formed after the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House.

The unequivocal advantage of BRICS is that the association provides a platform for discussing important issues and agreeing positions before meetings in a wider circle on other platforms. However, it is clear that the format needs new momentum and breakthroughs in addressing the key challenges facing the global majority. In this regard, the host party in the sleeve had a trump card, which she did not use for obvious reasons.

The agenda, which did not become one of the main priorities of the meeting (mentioned only in connection with others), but could potentially become its thematic one. «The Heart of the Heart»The fight against hunger and poverty, in which Brazil has a unique expertise and has made significant progress.

Last year, President Lula da Silva spoke at the G20 summit in Rio on the initiative to establish a Global Alliance to Combat Hunger and Poverty. The initiative draws on the experience of Brazilian programmes «Zero hunger» (Fome Zero) and «Family allowance» (Bolsa Família), which began in 2003 and led to significant improvements in sanitation, water and infrastructure.[7] The program’s four key measures are supporting farmers, raising the minimum wage, the school’s children’s lunch program and the Bolsa Família family benefits system. The target audience is the elderly, women and children who are particularly affected by hunger and poverty.
Today, Brazil has left the list of countries whose population suffers from hunger, but in the 2000s the situation was horrific. The number of people living in extreme poverty is steadily declining in 2023. 8.7 million people left this category, the poverty rate fell from 5.9 percent in 2022 to 4.4 percent in 2023 and was the lowest since 2012.[8] According to the first lady of the Federal Republic of Brazil, Jeanne Lula da Silva, more than 40 million elderly people and children are currently provided with nutritional assistance in Brazil.[9] She also noted that now the main tasks of the Global Initiative are to expand assistance to the population, increase the level of health care and primary education, attract state structures to combat hunger and poverty, bring their vision of organizing work to the level of local self-government, develop and improve tools, monitor the implementation of specific measures by the member countries of the Alliance.
Brazil's initiatives are highly valued in the expert community. Lilia Ovcharova, Director of the Institute of Social Policy at HSE, called the program «Zero hunger» (based on the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty) is the biggest success in human development in the current century.[10] The Brazilian experience is also taken into account in Russia, for example, in the social contract program, which, in addition to monetary assistance, implies support in finding employment, obtaining professional knowledge, putting children in kindergarten so that women can go to work. Domestic experts also offer promising solutions to combat hunger and poverty for implementation in various formats (meaning, among other things, the Global Alliance of Lula da Silva and BRICS).[11] First of all, we are talking about preferential lending for poor families for the development of production, which can be provided under the guarantees of the local community. The experience of the countries where such programmes work says that the main recipients are women and children, and the return on such loans is 100 per cent. Second, the rise of non-productive components in the price of goods over the past decade has pushed the idea of regulating the contribution of such expenditures to the formation of food prices – at least within the framework of minimum food sets.

Such measures can be highly demanded in the Global South. According to the head of the BRICS Expert Council – Russia Victoria Panova, the problem of poverty and malnutrition after the pandemic in the world has worsened. The numbers are catastrophic: more than 730 million people are now suffering from hunger, more than 700 million people are in extreme poverty. Although there is a huge demand to resolve this situation in the world, this issue has not become a priority independent topic at the BRICS summit, although it was discussed in one way or another. In parallel, the Brazilian initiative is supported at other venues, so the UK, together with Brazil and South Africa, plans to promote this agenda within the G20 and in a trilateral format.[12]

Russia and Brazil have a successful track record of addressing poverty and malnutrition. Brazil's contribution to the world's food security cannot be overstated. Russia has also made a huge leap over the past twenty years, turning from a net food importer into a net exporter and expanding the geography of supplies to 160 countries. In addition, Russia is the largest exporter of nitrogen fertilizers, it is among the three largest suppliers of potash and phosphorus fertilizers, which are extremely important for agricultural production. The two sides have every opportunity to advance the agenda to combat hunger and poverty as the main focus at future BRICS summits to justify the title. «Voices of the Global South». . . . After all, if peace and security are to be achieved, the reform of the United Nations and other spheres is being dealt with in a violinous way (if at all), then Brazil has actually achieved serious and tangible results in improving the lives of the population.