Climate change is widely accepted as the worst threat to the existence of mankind on earth in the 21st century. From the droughts and famines in the horn of Africa to the floods, forest fires that ravaged property and life in Europe and Asia, climate change has shown that it is a clear and imminent threat to humanity at this moment.
Along with this the most frequently raised topic is that developing countries are the worst hit due to the impacts of climate change though the developed parts of the world are by far the largest contributors to it. Since alleviating the impacts of the global threat needs considerable finance and technical capacity developing nations need the necessary support of the developed ones.
As per the Paris Agreement in 2021, developing countries are entitled to climate finance which helps them adapt to the damages caused by the unparalleled level of carbon emission by the developed countries. This was planned to disburse to the developing nations through a climate finance initiative.
However, the developed countries have shown a trend of dragging their legs in discharging their commitment to release the climate fund to the developing countries. Furthermore, developing countries need more options and even more amount of financing to cope with the impacts of climate change on their ecosystem and economy.
The expansion of the BRICS as a global south economic and poltical bloc should also incorporate as its main pillar to respond to the financing needs of the developing coutnries to cope with the consequences of climate change.
Founded by Brazil Russia, India and South Africa on June 16, 2009 BRICS has set a global alternative for economic development of member nations. Describing the objectives of the global block, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed describes the organization as:
“A reformed multilateralism entails inclusivity, cooperation and diversity of voices and interests. By amplifying voices from various corners of the globe, we can collaboratively work for an equitable and peaceful world. And the BRICS could be one key initiative responding to the repeated calls for a new multilateralism if it pursues the path of inclusivity.”
In his remark on the 15th Summit of the BRICS held at Johannesburg, Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General said “As the global community moves towards multi-polarity, we desperately need – and I have been vigorously advocating for – a strengthened and reformed multilateral architecture based on the UN Charter and international law.”
A Joint Declaration issued at the 15th BRICS Summit conducted in Johannesburg from 22-24 August frames the objective of the block stating that;
“As we build upon 15 years of BRICS Summits, we further commit ourselves to strengthening the framework of mutually beneficial BRICS cooperation under the three pillars of political and security, economic and financial, and cultural and people-to-people cooperation and to enhancing our strategic partnership for the benefit of our people through the promotion of peace, a more representative, fairer international order, a reinvigorated and reformed multilateral system, sustainable development and inclusive growth. Partnership for Inclusive Multilateralism and
We express concern about the use of unilateral coercive measures, which are incompatible with the principles of the Charter of the UN and produce negative effects notably in the developing world. We reiterate our commitment to enhancing and improving global governance by promoting a more agile, effective, efficient, representative, democratic and accountable international and multilateral system.”
The Declaration effectively matches with Ethiopia’s domestic and foreign development programs which are in almost cases compatible with international laws and norms of standards economic relations accepted by the UN.
At the 15th BRICS Summit, out of some 40 countries that showed interest to join the organization, six countries including Ethiopia, Egypt, KSA, UAE, Iran and Argentina. It is estimated that BRICS countries account for 47% of the world population with about 30% GDP and 18% of global trade transactions.
A number of government officials renowned economists and experts on global economy seem to unanimously agree on how and why Ethiopia was invited to this global forum. The population expanse of the country with 70% of youth population, Ethiopia’s global achievements on mitigation of climate change, attempts the country is making to promote food security, the nation’s contribution to global peace and security, ascending economic growth are among the factors that have enabled the country to qualify for joining the bloc.
Here it is important to make some comments on the wrong assumptions on why Ethiopia has joined BRICS. It must be noted that BRICS has not been established as a competing global organization that wishes to defeat the west’s economic and political dominance, far from it indeed.
Most of the founding members of BRICS including China, Brazil and India have very strong relations with western economies and they do not intend to throw away their longstanding development partners in the west. They are already decisive global economic powers even before they formed BRICS. They are simply interested in global multilateralism to ensure global economic equity. Even if they work towards the de-dollarization of global economy and replace it with their own BRICS currency, they may not be able to do so in the short run.
It is not about good or bad as some idiosyncratic social media gossipers tend to polarize everything into yes and no or into extremities. This is about alternatives. The western countries on the other hand have no intention of punishing any of the BRICS but they rather work towards strengthening ties to a higher degree
The same logic works for Ethiopia which will continue to work in partnership with western economies. This is about global economy in which Ethiopia is at the periphery and wishes to find an alternative through a strong membership in a global economic block.
What does Ethiopia get by joining BRICS and what are the challenges and solutions that one can think of? The author attempts to find answers to the above basic questions.
Ethiopia did not joint BRICS out of the blue. The nation has been conducting aggressive and tireless diplomatic efforts to join BRICS right up to the last ditch of the 15th BRICS Summit by negotiating with most of the founding members, thanks to the efforts made by the Prime Minister. This is not about social media rumor mongering or gossips in the bars. It is a grim reality of striving to seek the rootedness, positioning and promoting the bargaining capacity of the nation to further pursue the fulfilment of the national interest of the country within BRICS and without.
By joining BRICS, Ethiopia intends to build upon its well-earned position in the global arena and would strive to make her voice heard in the international fora. Moreover, Ethiopia expects to have additional access to global finance with full respect and in a more sustainable manner.
Among other things, Ethiopia has a comparative advantage in that her foreign policy and diplomatic values and standards effectively coincide with that of the BRICS countries. On the other hand when the major western powers with their veto powers joined forces in attempting to stop Ethiopia from building GERD and were ready to punish the country with a barrage of sanctions by staging 12 UNSC sessions, most of the founding members of BRICS fought for Ethiopia’s legitimate right to use her own resources for the betterment of the lives of her citizens.
In addition, Ethiopia has long years of experience in South-South Cooperation ever since the days of the Bandung Conference of the Non-Aligned countries and can now utilize that to strengthen its standing in BRICS.
Ever since the post war advent of the signing of Bretton Woods Agreement and System created a collective international currency exchange regime that lasted from the mid-1940s to the early 1970s, the west continued to dictate global economy in which the rich countries became richer while the countries of the South remained ever poorer. They became permanent recipients of western aid remaining in the vicious circle of poverty.
Hence, as a bloc that contains giant economies , BRICS should take in to consideration the financing needs of the global south countries so that they can develop climate smart economies and enhance their competitiveness in global economy and political arena.
BY SOLOMON DIBABA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD 27 AUGUST 2023
