BRICS Environment Ministers Statement, 2015

	BRICS Information Centre

Home | Documents

Statement: First Official Meeting of BRICS Environment Ministers

Moscow, April 22, 2015

We, the BRICS Environment Ministers, assembled for the First official meeting during the Russian Presidency of BRICS in Moscow (the Russian Federation) on 22 April 2015 share the common aspiration that the effective implementation and promotion of an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future is essential to achieve our overarching priority of poverty eradication.

We recognize that sustainable development should comprehensively address the key challenges of today, in particular, poverty eradication, changing unsustainable and promoting sustainable patterns of consumption and production, protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development and effectively addressing climate change.

We reaffirm our commitment to implement the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI), and the outcomes of the Rio+20 Conference in our respective countries, and through our cooperation within the framework of BRICS in accordance with the Rio principles, including the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

We consider that inclusive green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication is one of the tools available to achieve sustainable development in our countries, in accordance with the national circumstances and priorities.

We acknowledge the progress made on the Millennium Development Goals in the preceding two decades and reaffirm our commitment towards accelerated implementation of the unfinished task. In this context, we look forward to the adoption of ambitious, transformative and equitable Post-2015 development agenda with Sustainable Development Goals at its core. The scale of challenges associated with the implementation of the Post-2015 Development agenda will require shared efforts, strengthened international cooperation and robust means of implementation.

We acknowledge that the increasing number and frequency of the extreme natural phenomena triggered by the human induced climate change are likely to greatly affect societies and economies worldwide.

We will consolidate efforts in our respective countries to develop policies and measures contributing to mitigation efforts and adaptation of the national economies to the adverse impacts of climate change in accordance with the principles of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and other provisions of UNFCCC.

For the realization of our common goals we resolve to:

Establish a Working group on environment which will identify and discuss the priority areas of cooperation, and decide to convene its first meeting in 2015 in Russia;
Explore the potential of the BRICS New Development Bank for purposes of funding environmental projects;
Explore at the Working group level the possibility of establishing a collaborative platform of the BRICS countries intended to share best environmental practices and facilitate the exchange of environmentally sound technologies and know-how with participation of public and private stakeholders, taking into account the existing mechanisms of cooperation;
Hold regular meetings of Environment Ministers of BRICS.

We deeply appreciate and commend the efforts of the host country, the Russian Federation, in organizing the First Official Meeting of Environment Ministers of BRICS.

Source: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation

[back to top]