Elizabeth Morgan | BRICS, Commonwealth, and Biodiversity: What transpired

There have been several meetings to follow in the last two weeks. There was the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, October 22-23; the 27th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa, October 25-26; and the opening of the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, October 21-November 1, 2024.

This article will look briefly at these three meetings:

BRICS SUMMIT

The BRICS Summit, focusing on ‘Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security’’, stood out this year as its venue was Kazan, Russia. The host was President Vladimir Putin, who is currently not in good standing with many in the West due to the Ukraine war.

It was also noted that the Prime Minister of India and President of South Africa attended the BRICS Summit and not the Commonwealth Heads. This can be understood, as they are BRICS founding or early members.

It was noted that the name has not changed with its expansion to 10 members, now Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. In December 2023, Argentina’s new President, Javier Milei, withdrew his country from BRICS membership. No new members were added at this meeting.

The BRICS Declaration is not an easy read. It endeavours to cover everything, as do other communiqués, which can make them difficult to digest.

BRICS members acknowledged the continuing interest in the alliance from the Global South, and it seems that they are creating a category of BRICS partnership countries.

They reiterated the importance of further enhancing their solidarity and cooperation based on their mutual interests and key priorities, and further strengthening their strategic partnership.

They committed themselves to strengthening cooperation under the three pillars of political and security, economic and financial, and cultural and people-to-people cooperation, and to enhancing their strategic partnership for the benefit of their people through the promotion of peace; a more representative, fairer international order; a reinvigorated and reformed multilateral system; sustainable development and inclusive growth.

There isn’t much disagreement that the world order needs reform. There have been efforts to do this, in some form, for years. The BRICS have the ambition to change the world order and the possibility of doing so. This is exciting many in the South. It is at this point, however, a work in progress, and should continue to be monitored closely.

COMMONWEALTH HEADS

The Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) did get some coverage in the region. Its theme was ‘One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Common Wealth’, and it was King Charles’s first meeting as head of the association. The CHOGM also elected a new Secretary General, who is the Foreign Minister of Ghana, Hon Shirley Ayorkor Botchwe.

Those Commonwealth Caribbean heads in attendance – Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago – used the opportunity to focus on issues of interest to them at the multilateral level, such as small island states and climate change, as well as to have bilateral meetings. Guyana more than likely used the opportunity to update the meeting on its Venezuela border controversy.

The issue, though, which was covered in the British media, was the Caribbean quest to have reparations for the historic transatlantic slave trade placed on the agenda and reflected in the communiqué. The communiqué does have negotiated language reflected in paragraph 22 calling for a ‘meaningful, truthful, and respectful’ conversation.

A surprise from this meeting was that Antigua and Barbuda offered to host the 28th CHOGM to be held in 2026. It will be very interesting indeed to see how the work programme of the Commonwealth will be implemented over the next 18 months leading into this CHOGM in the Caribbean, with its eight realm states (Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines) being the leading proponent of the call for the payment of reparations to the descendants of transatlantic slavery, colonialism, indentureship, and blackbirding. It should be noted that ‘blackbirding’ refers to the practice of kidnapping people as enforced labourers, particularly in the Pacific islands.

THE UN CONFERENCE ON BIODIVERSITY (COP16)

This is an important meeting for the Caribbean and Latin America. It will be reviewing outcomes from COP 15 held in 2022. This is about conserving the biodiversity, flora and fauna, of the countries. In the Caribbean, natural forest cover, including mangrove forest, are being lost. Watersheds and sources of water are affected. Indeed, this is related to climate change.

Action needs to be taken in accordance with the COP15 outcomes to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. We see this around us every day here in Jamaica, as mature trees are removed for building construction, and the habitats of birds and other creatures are lost.

So, a lot is on the agenda with trade and economic implications. Continuing next week, we face the crucial elections in the USA, which have many onlookers on edge as the implications for the global system could be great.

The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11-22. These, as the planet heats up, natural disasters intensify, and wars continue to rage. Multiple global crises remain with us, requiring alliance strengthening and multilateral solutions.

Elizabeth Morgan is a specialist in international trade policy and international politics. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.