Vijay Jayaraj
Leaders of some of the world's most powerful countries gathered in the Russian city of Kazan, hosted by the country's “alienated and sanctioned” leader Vladimir Putin, to make it clear that the so-called climate emergency was too much for them. Say it's a secondary priority.
Participants at the 16th BRICS Summit represent more than 45% of the world's population and 35% of global gross domestic product, including representatives from Saudi Arabia, China, India, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.
The Kazan Declaration they signed builds on already strong economic and diplomatic relations within the BRICS framework established in 2009 and expanded since then. However, most mainstream media outlets have failed to note—or deliberately underestimated—that the core BRICS countries, including India, China, and Russia, have publicly stated that their domestic energy needs and economic well-being will be prioritized over the Paris Agreement and International climate agreements such as the Paris Agreement.
Interestingly, powerful leaders from the BRICS countries – such as China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi – are absent from COP29, the United Nations’ annual climate conference underway this week. Only a third of the way into the 11-day COP29 meeting, Argentina's 80-member delegation was summoned home, reinforcing the idea that the U.N. summit is little more than rhetoric without any substantive results.
According to Sky News, “Argentina’s withdrawal from global climate talks COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, heightened concerns about the global climate fight after climate crisis sceptic Donald Trump was re-elected.”
In hindsight, the Kazan meeting can be seen as signaling skepticism about the position of the popular climate narrative. However, CNBC's summary of the event – which purportedly laid out key takeaways – completely ignored this key aspect, even though it represented a significant portion of the manifesto's wording.
The mainstream media remained silent, their “green” illusions shattered before Kazan's eyes.
A cursory look at the Kazan Agreement would suggest that the BRICS alliance stands with the global climate movement and is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the energy and transport sectors.
For example, people have praised the Paris Agreement and pointed out that “aggressive climate adaptation plans are urgently needed.”
However, a closer look reveals that these countries, many of which are still in the early stages of modern development, have no intention of compromising on their national energy security and their use of fossil fuels.
At the heart of the declaration is a fundamental truth that the Western climate-industrial complex often refuses to acknowledge: if people are to prosper, access to affordable, reliable energy and economic development cannot be sacrificed at the expense of “decarbonization.”
The emphasis on “technological neutrality” in the Kazan Declaration is particularly telling. By explicitly supporting the use of “all available fuels, energy sources and technologies”, including fossil fuels with emission-reducing technologies, the BRICS countries effectively rejected the idea of a rapid phase-out of traditional energy sources.
The declaration says, “Energy security, access and energy transition are all important and need to be balanced…” In other words – similar to the style of India's original Nationally Determined Contribution document in 2017 – domestic energy needs will be prioritized over emissions reductions.
It also calls for uninterrupted energy supply chains, emphasizing the importance of affordable energy – something that only fossil fuels can provide in countries with high poverty rates.
The declaration states “the need to build resilient global supply chains and stable, predictable energy demand in order to achieve universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy and to ensure national, global and regional energy Safety.
The Kazan statement directly challenged the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism, calling such taxes “unilateral, punitive and discriminatory protectionist measures”. This is a rejection of the EU's attempts to export its climate policy through trade.
Most components for solar systems come from China, which produces 80% of the world's solar panels. With coal still dominating China's energy mix, Western countries buying Chinese solar panels are effectively outsourcing their carbon dioxide emissions while claiming progress toward net-zero targets. None of this is logical.
BRICS leaders stressed that their immediate goals – eradicating poverty, developing infrastructure and expanding their economies – require secure and stable energy supplies.
The Kazan Declaration is not just a political statement; It marks a new era in global climate energy politics. Emerging economies will no longer distract from the pursuit of prosperity and depart from the currently dominant United Nations climate framework.
One day, traditional media will wake up—or maybe not.
This review was first published on BizPac Reviews November 15, 2024.
Vijay Jayaraj is a scientific research assistant carbon monoxide2 allianceArlington, VA. he He holds a master's degree in environmental science from the University of East Anglia, UK, a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, and a bachelor's degree in engineering from Anna University, India.
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