Energy
BRICS countries have a greater role to play in the global energy agenda in line with their share in the world's energy production and consumption. Hence, numerous mechanisms have been established in BRICS to further deepen cooperation in the field of energy.
Since the first BRIC Summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia in 2009, BRICS countries have expressed the need for co-operation in the field of energy and energy efficiency. In the Delhi Declaration 2012, the leaders mentioned the need for multilateral energy co-operation within BRICS framework.
In 2015, in accordance with the strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership adopted at the BRICS Ufa Summit, the first BRICS Energy Ministerial was held, marking the institutionalization of energy co-operation within BRICS.
In order to pursue energy co-operation through joint research and technology projects, tech transfer, conferences, lectures and seminars and exchange of best experience and practices, a Memorandum of Understanding in Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency was signed, which resulted in the creation of the Working Group on Energy Savings and Energy Efficiency, in 2015. The working group met for the first time under India’s Chairship at Vizag in 2016, issuing a joint statement on charting an Action Plan for the Working Group on Energy Savings and Energy Efficiency.
In the Xiamen Declaration of 2017, BRICS leaders encouraged continued dialogue on the establishment of a BRICS Energy Research Co-operation Platform (BRICS ERCP). This led to the establishment of BRICS ERCP Platform, which was agreed upon and acknowledged in the Johannesburg Summit Declaration in 2018.
Meetings of BRICS ERCP commenced in 2019 under a committee of senior officials under the Brazilian Chairship, during which the terms of reference of BRICS ERCP were adopted.
Today, BRICS ERCP is a global platform for promoting energy based sustainable development, sharing of advanced energy technologies, expansion of cooperation on educational programs, as well as exchange of statistical data and plans on the development of national energy systems and information on best practices and regulatory frameworks in the energy sector. The platform also aims at creating synergies in BRICS energy co-operation across various platforms—Academic Forum, BRICS Science, Technology and Innovative Initiative, Program of Economic Co-operation and New Development Bank.
