✔Throughout the 17 years of its existence, BRICS Academic Forum has become a place of frank opinion exchanges, mutual support, great ideas and emerging concepts.

✔It has become a cliche to say that we live in difficult times. Unfortunately, I have to repeat this. BRICS couldn’t but respond to the most recent breach of international law and the principles enshrined in the UN Charter materialised with the attack on Iran, so they released a joint statement, expressing profound concern over the security crisis in the Middle East and BRICS stance on it. We fully stand by this approach and as the BRICS academic community, we must not stay indifferent and be committed to solving crises by peaceful means. Iran is a #BRICS member, our close partner.

✔This year, our opening session features Global South cooperation. It is on the rise and it’s essential that this trend is upheld. By 2030, non-OECD economies are expected to account for 57%. By 2050, Asia will be the centre of the global economy, providing more than 50% of the global economic output, largely driven by two of the BRICS countries – China and India. The African continent’s population is projected to reach 1.1 billion people by 2040 and will become the largest workforce globally. By 2033, annual Global South trade is projected to approach $14 trillion. As a destination for foreign direct investment, the Global South has also surpassed advanced economies ($525 billion in 2023 vs. $464 billion).

✔The Global South and East can indeed play a decisive role in bringing peace and prosperity to the world. With BRICS being a major voice of the needs of the World Majority, we bear a special responsibility as academics to be honest and deep in our deliberations. Within these two days, we will have a chance to discuss global health; AI governance; trade, investment and finance; peace and security; as well as institutional development. The agenda is rich and it disposes to a debate.

✔In 2020, we first introduced a system of indicators aimed at evaluating BRICS progress on achieving its commitments. In 2024, we produced the first-of-a-kind research that shows what our countries have done and what else they could accomplish to advance dialogue. This year, we continue this practice with support of other BRICS Think Tanks Council members and aspire to carry out this research annually.

✔We aim to ultimately produce an unbiased analysis of the work done in BRICS and hope that the research results will guide us in the direction towards tangible improvements. It is essential that we start engaging in self-reflection and that we don’t wait for someone from the outside to make judgements on our commitments. We hope this effort will become a permanent tradition with support of experts from other BTTC national coordinators.

✔Besides, let me remind you that BRICS Expert Council has compiled a depository that contains all of the documents produced by the grouping since its establishment. It is a serious step forward in systematising the outcomes of our activities and may serve as a helping hand for the community of BRICSologists who wish to study BRICS in all its diversity. We are determined to keep this platform well-updated and our hope is that it will draw the attention of colleagues from the BTTC and all those who are not indifferent to the destiny of BRICS development.

In recent years, the concept of a "just energy (green, low-carbon) transition" has been used increasingly often, yet there is still no clear understanding of what it truly means. The Kazan Declaration emphasises the need to ensure a just low-carbon transition. BRICS could take the lead in articulating its key conditions and components.

Common principles might include:

➖Technological neutrality: No low-carbon technologies or emission reduction pathways are inherently preferable to others. Each country has the right to choose which technologies to adopt based on its national context

➖Balancing mitigation and adaptation: Most developing countries are not major greenhouse gas emitters, yet they bear the brunt of climate change caused largely by the activities of advanced Western economies.

➖A dialogue between exporters and importers is necessary to ensure a gradual and just energy transition.

➖Fostering dialogue between exporters and importers of carbon-intensive products: Imposing additional trade barriers on carbon-intensive imports—as the European Union is doing—is not a form of constructive dialogue.

➖Accounting for emissions not only by production but also by consumption: A significant portion of emissions generated in #BRICS countries stems from the production of goods destined for Western markets

➖The next step after formulating a common vision for a just transition is to engage in an open, multi-level, and focused discussion of a new sustainable development agenda. Simply restating the same (or slightly updated) goals for the next few decades (e.g., until 2050) is futile. Yet no new framework has emerged so far.

New ideas could be refined first through the BRICS Think Tank Council and then by ministerial working groups; a consolidated BRICS position could be presented at the UN level.