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The Irrelevance of BRICS
Any economic bloc led by China and Russia means nothing good for the world — time to put an end to it!
The BRICS summit is underway in Johannesburg, South Africa. The leaders of some of the world’s biggest economies showed up for photos yesterday. Xi Jinping shuffled along like his feet were tied together Geisha (yes, I know they are from Japan); the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, was in his traditional garb, and South Africa and Brazil were present.
Missing, of course, was Vladimir Putin. The incorrigible liar represented him, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. As I looked at the photo of the five, arms raised in some bizarre show of unity which suggested, I guess, a kind of strength too, it dawned on me how destructive those five countries are to the world. Not only in terms of their struggles with democracy but, more importantly, their collective refusal to do anything about climate change.
The emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) have significant influence on the global economic and environmental trajectories. They have carbon intensive economic systems, which contribute significantly to total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, leading to climate change (BRICS and the Race to Net-Zero Emissions).
Despite joining the rest of the industrialized world to shoot for net-zero emissions, not one of these countries is actually doing anything to slow the level of their emissions. China, the world’s largest manufacturer of batteries and solar panels, does so not for use inside of China but to control world markets — a business decision that causes more carbon waste than it reduces. The five countries of BRICS are responsible for 40 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.
There is the added collective disgrace this group carries because not a single one of these countries has cut off ties with Russia over its war with Ukraine, and, in the case of China, with its infinitely morally superior way, Xi goes out of his way to align with the sponsor of state terrorism that Russia is today.
China and Russia used the second day of the BRICS Summit of emerging economies to criticize the West, while also throwing their support behind the proposed…
