BRICS academics proffer solutions to bloc’s pressing issues | CAJ News Africa

"ACADEMICS from the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) bloc have proposed innovative solutions to the developing world’s most pressing problems. The academics met at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg under the aegis of the just-ended tenth BRICS Academic Forum. South Africa, which holds the BRICS Chairship in 2018, set the agenda for this year’s forum, choosing to focus on the theme of envisioning inclusive development through a socially responsive economy. “South Africa is not a poor country but an unjust one. It is up to us right those injustices,” commented Prof Ari Sitas, Chairman of the South African BRICS Think Tank. ...

Strengthening education and science as well as promoting energy research also featured prominent at the BRICS Academic Forum. Thaiane Oliveira from Brazil pointed out that while the combined scientific research output from BRICS countries was 1382, only 288 of these were open access. She therefore urged that BRICS countries to invest in more open access platforms to improve the visibility of their scientific research. Varun Sahni from the Indian delegation who pointed out that challenges such as climate change and water scarcity could not be solved by science and technology alone. Jaya Josie of the South African delegation called for more innovative financing mechanisms to overcome current challenges to the uptake of green energy in BRICS. Aparajit Pandey, a member of the Indian delegation, argued that international banking regulations suppressed financial flows of funding for climate change. Ultimately, he called for BRICS countries must push for reform in global financial institutions. BTTC will be submitting its full list of 20 recommendations along with those discussed during other panels at the Forum for the BRICS leader’s consideration. “In the end a multitude of entities were proposed – centres, institutes, networks, platforms, programmes, hubs and committees, as well as a forum to monitor the implementation of the agreements within BRICS in order to identify urgent areas of necessary intervention,” Sitas concluded."