Opinion - Op-Ed   

At Yekaterinburg, the BRICs come of age

The Russian city of Yekaterinburg will host today a meeting of the leaders of the BRIC countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Our meeting celebrates more than just the first BRICs Summit. It marks a major turning point in how our countries engage in a world undergoing profound change. We will seal a commitment to help provide fresh answers to old problems and to offer bold l eadership in the face of inertia and indecision.

After all, the world today faces challenges that are of great complexity, but that require urgent answers. We are up against threats that affect us all, but to which some have contributed much, while others are simply its powerless victims.

And yet we live amid broken paradigms and failing multilateral institutions. The current economic turmoil only compounds a growing sense of perplexity and impotence in the face of climate change and the risk to global food and energy scarcity. Clearly modern society must rethink a system that is so enormously wasteful of the earth’s finite natural resources, and at the same time, condemns billions of people to poverty and despair.

That is why, at the 2008 United Nations General Assembly I said that the “time for politics” has come. It is time to make tough choices and to face up to collective responsibilities.

Are rich countries willing to accept supranational oversight and control of the international financial system, so as to avoid the risk of another global economic meltdown?

Are they willing to forfeit their stranglehold on decision-making at the World Bank and the IMF?

Will they agree to cover the costs of technological adaptation required for people in developing countries to also benefit from scientific progress, without harming the global environment?

Will they eliminate protectionist subsidies that make modern agriculture in many developing countries unviable, leaving poor farmers at the mercy of commodity speculators and generous donors?

These are the questions that the BRICs want answered.

That is why we demanded, during the recent financial G-20 meeting, in London, that advanced countries commit to reform of the voting and quota system of the Bretton Woods institutions. Only thus will the voice of developing countries be heard. We also obtained a commitment to set up a fund providing swift and efficient financial support — free of neo-liberal dogmas — to countries hurt by the sudden falloff in exports and by the credit crunch.

This is only a first step in the fundamental policy review we wish to see taken forward at the next G-20 Summit. We will press for a renewed undertaking to bring the Doha Development Round to a fast and balanced conclusion.

Renewal is equally urgent at the United Nations if multilateral institutions are to regain their relevance. To postpone reform, especially of the Security Council, will only further erode global authority.

In 2004, I sponsored U.N. Action Plan against Hunger. I am pleased, therefore, that food security will be on the agenda at Yekaterinburg.

These initiatives show that BRIC is more than just a grouping of big countries, bundled together only by the size of their economies, the vastness of their natural resources and a willingness to project their values and interests.

We stand out because in recent years our four economies have shown robust growth. Trade between us has risen 500 per cent since 2003. This helps explain why we now generate 65 per cent of world growth, which makes us the main hope for a swift recovery from global recession.

This places increased expectations on our four countries to exercise responsible leadership in helping rebuild global governance and sustainable growth for all. This is a challenge I am sure we will all accept. For throughout my political career, going back to my experience as a union organiser, I have learnt a basic lesson. To be effective, it is not enough to be right or to have justice on one’s side. Nobody will speak up for the weak and the vulnerable unless they themselves first join ranks. To speak out forcefully; to dialogue, but from a position of steadfast conviction backed by our political weight. This is a task and a commitment that I hope the BRICs will reaffirm in Yekaterinburg.

(Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the President of Brazil.)

Corrections and Clarifications

Brazil's President is Luiz Ináo Lula da Silva, as given in his (exclusive) article "At Yekaterinburg, the BRICs come of age" (Op-Ed, June 16, 2009). An article "BRIC debut puts the 'political' back into economy" (June 16, 2009) misspelt his name as Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

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