“For a just transition I have a personal statement that says ‘there should be no borders for food’ and BRICS needs to work together to ensure food for our people,” said the president of the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein, Ricardo Santin, at the BRICS Business forum on Tuesday, August 22.
Santin was speaking on a panel that sought to deliver a transition that will make the economy more green, create eco-friendly jobs and ensure the change to a low-carbon and sustainable one.
“We have vast knowledge that can be exchanged between our countries... In Brazil we have a lot of legislation that we could harmonise to the BRICS countries regarding sustainability,” he said.
Aleksei Kechko, the Russian BBC member and the head of strategy at VEB RF, added that the measures that could be taken are "not exactly green" but could lead to ecological improvement.
"If you have some old infrastructure that is producing heat or energy for you, instead of building a completely new structure, you can just modernise what you have today.
"And for us, when we modernise, we often see that it is much more efficient than to rebuild from scratch," said Kechko.
He stated that the "Russian way’ is often pragmatic rather than "green".
China’s Baoan Xin, who is the executive president and chief strategy officer at the China Investment Corporation, also shared his insights.
He said the Chinese state has pushed the agenda of transitioning to green energy while advancing the economy and creating environmentally-friendly jobs. He pointed to the county’s booming electric car market as an example.
Nishant Arya, the vice chairman of JBM Group in India, contributed that this is an opportune time as the Asian country’s electric vehicle industry is ramping up at a fast pace.
"Electric vehicles are a combination of hardware and software. India already has a strong prowess in software, and with the focus on semi-conductor power electronics, we can see the upstream and the downstream."
Sim Tshabalala, the chief executive of Standard Bank Group added that it is important to also increase the role women play in the economy and will continue to do so in the green transition.
"More than half of our customers are women, and the vast majority of decision-makers are women," he said.
IOL