July 25, 2018

To kickstart sustainable and fair development, BRICS countries need to ditch fossil fuels and invest in renewables now

[GLOBAL] The 10th summit of the BRICS bloc starts today in Johannesburg, South Africa. A delegation of BRICS leaders will discuss how to leverage “the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership towards the pursuit of Inclusive Growth and Advancing the 4th Industrial Revolution”. 

On the sidelines of the summit, 350.org spokespeople in BRICS countries issued the following statements:

If BRICS countries are serious about kickstarting a 4th industrial revolution, they need to acknowledge that this will only be possible through a fast and just transition to renewable energy. Emerging economies such as South Africa can benefit from a deep transformation of the energy sector, creating more and cleaner jobs, cleaning up our air and supporting innovation and new technology rather than old, dirty energy projects such as the Thabametsi coal plant.Glen Tyler, South Africa team leader at 350.org

In order to efficiently address BRICS countries’ needs for sustainability and fair development, we call on the Brazilian government to show real climate leadership, and this can only be done with continuous actions towards a fossil free economy. In June 2017, during the so-called ‘Strategic Dialogue‘, Temer and Putin agreed on prioritizing the fight against global warming as something ‘unavoidable’, but have done very little in the way of new internal policies and commitments so far.Nicole Oliveira, Latin America team leader at 350.org

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