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BRICS Long-Term Strategy

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The law in Brazil seeks to define how to regulate urban property and urban policy 

so as to guarantee the right to housing for all of its population. In 2005 Federal 

Law no. 11.124 created the National System of Social Housing (

Sistema Nacional 

de Habitação de Interesse Social

). In 2009 Brazil started implementing the national 

social housing programme ‘My House, My Life’ (

Programa Minha Casa, Minha 

Vida

 – PMCMV). This programme has also become a flagship programme to 

boost the labour market, reduce poverty and tackle socio-economic inequality. 

The Russian housing system has gone through significant changes since market 

liberalisation in the 1990s. In 2005 the Housing Code was introduced, which 

aims to reduce the State’s commitment to the provision of social housing from 

10 per cent to 5 per cent (Khmelnitskaya, 2012). There continues to be a large 

backlog for housing. To address this, the new Housing Code aims to introduce the 

following reforms: first, citizens who registered for social rental contracts before 

1 March 2005 retain their right to social housing (Article 6, paragraph 2 HC). 

Second, following that date the queue for social housing would be accessible only 

to poor people, which would be determined on the basis of their income and the 

property they own. In addition to these people, the following are also eligible for 

social housing: orphans and children left without parents; victims of disaster and 

emergency situations; those living in dilapidated houses subject to resettlement; 

and those living in apartments occupied by several families.

Housing demand in India has been driven in large part by high rates 

of urbanisation and internal labour migration (Government of India Ministry of 

Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, 2007). The growth of the Indian workforce 

has also had an impact on the rates of urbanisation in India. The cities present far 

better opportunities for employment and an improved living standard. According 

to the 2001 Indian Census, 61.8 million people (23.1 per cent of the urban 

population) reside in slums; it is estimated that 55 per cent of the population of 

Mumbai lives in slums. The quality of housing in slums is extremely poor. An 

important reason for this is insecurity of tenure. Slums are also severely deficient 

in basic services such as potable water, sanitation, sewerage, storm water drainage 

and solid waste disposal. 

Chinese housing policy has undergone significant reforms in the last two 

decades. In particular, reform has taken place in the area of improving housing 

affordability, allowing for greater ownership and increasing access within urban areas. 

The current Chinese housing framework includes the Economical and Comfortable 

Housing (ECH) programme, which aims to serve lower-middle and middle-income 

urban families who may not be able to purchase market-rate housing. Low-cost 

housing units are built by real estate developers for sale, not for rent, to eligible 

families through market transactions. 

Social Justice, Sustainable Development and Quality of Life

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Over the past 20 years, 3.7 million houses and services sites were delivered in 

South Africa, providing approximately 12.5 million people with access to shelter 

and accommodation and a fixed asset. About 56 per cent of all subsidies were 

allocated to female-headed households. The Constitution of the Republic of South 

Africa guarantees everyone’s right of access to adequate housing. The State must 

take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to 

progressively realise this right. Beyond the Constitution, since 1994 a raft of laws 

has been promulgated relating to housing, which attests to the broad and complex 

nature of the housing sector in the country. The 1994 

White Paper on Housing

provided the framework for the country’s ambitious housing development target 

of building 1 million state-funded houses in the first five years of office. It sets out 

the underlying policy principles, as well as guidelines, norms and standards that 

apply to all government housing programmes.

1.5 Climate change, ecological degradation and food insecurity

Restructuring of world economy towards new pattern constitutes one of the main 

challenges to the future of development of BRICS countries. Considering the fact 

that it is not an obstacle but rather a driver to growth, being generator of jobs, a 

way to reducing poverty and improving quality of life, it is vital to create relevant 

conditions for this pattern of development through environment-friendly industries 

and investments. As emerging economies with large populations, land masses and 

disparities among their people, BRICS countries stand to be significantly impacted 

by climate change. The particular vulnerability of member states has thus required 

them to actively participate in the negotiations and planning underway within 

their regions and internationally. In the BRICS Fortaleza Declaration of 2014 all 

member states committed to collectively address the challenges posed by climate 

change and environmental degradation. In so doing they stated the following:

“Acknowledging that climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing 

humankind, we call on all countries to build upon the decisions adopted in the 

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with a view to 

reaching a successful conclusion by 2015, of negotiations on the development of 

a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under 

the Convention applicable to all Parties, in accordance with the principles and 

provisions of UNFCCC, in particular the principle of common but differentiated 

responsibilities and respective capabilities. In this regard, we reiterate our support 

to the Presidency of the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties and the 10th 

session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties 

to the Kyoto Protocol, to be held in Lima, Peru, in December 2014. We also 

note the convening of the UN Climate Summit 2014 to be held this September”

(BRICS, 2014).

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By virtue of the size and rate of growth of the economies of the BRICS 

countries, their energy demands, their energy imports (for instance, in the case 

of China and India) and their atmospheric emissions of various types, they make 

essential partners in any regional or global discussions relating to climate change 

or the production and consumption of energy.

The 2013 edition of the International Energy Agency’s report 

CO

2

 Emissions 

from Fuel Combustion, Statistics Highlights

 (see figure 4) portrays BRICS nations’ 

contribution to CO

2

 emissions in the world. Although China is responsible 

for more than 25 per cent of the world’s emissions, Russia and South Africa 

had much higher per capita emissions in 2011, with values of 12.2 per cent 

and 9 per cent, respectively. While China’s per capita share of emissions was 

6.2 per cent, India had the lowest per capita share of CO

2

 emissions with a 

value of 1.7 per cent.

FIGURE 4

CO

2

 emissions of BRICS countries as a percentage of the world’s CO

2

 emissions (2001-2010)

(In %)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Brazil

China

India

Russian Federation

South Africa

Source: International Energy Agency (2013). CO

2

 Emissions from Fuel Combustion 2013, Statistics Highlights.

While bearing in mind that fossil fuel remains one of the major sources of 

energy, BRICS reiterates the belief that renewable and clean energy, research and 

development of new technologies and energy efficiency can be important drivers 

to promote sustainable development, create new economic growth, reduce 

energy costs and increase efficiency in the use of natural resources. Considering the 

dynamic link between renewable and clean energy and sustainable development,  

it is important to reaffirm the importance of continuing international efforts aimed 

at promoting the deployment of renewable and clean energy and energy efficiency 

technologies, taking into account national policies, priorities and resources.

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In India, China and South Africa there is a strong reliance on coal for generating 

electricity. In 2011 about 93.7 per cent of South Africa’s electricity production 

was from coal, compared to 78.9 per cent in China and 67.9 per cent in India. 

India, meanwhile, has plans to expand its clean energy production, adding 20 

gigawatts (GW) of solar energy capacity by 2022 and continuing to grow the wind 

sector, already the fifth largest in the world. Russia’s electricity provision differs 

from the other countries, with 49 per cent of its electricity generated from natural 

gas, and an additional 16 per cent derived from nuclear sources.

Biodiversity is critical to ensuring environment sustainability. It is interconnected 

with climate change and strongly affected by it (Convention on Biological 

Diversity, 2015a). Continued biodiversity loss has a significant impact on the 

BRICS nations, as they contain 8 of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots (Wu, 2011). 

In addition to the loss of species, entire ecosystems are also in danger of collapsing.

Understanding the magnitude of the problem, BRICS is committed to the 

implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols, with 

special attention to the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi 

Targets (Convention on Biological Diversity, 2015b). The Aichi Targets focus on: 

•  addressing the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming 

biodiversity across government and society;

•  reducing the direct pressures on biodiversity and promoting its sustainable use;
•  improving the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species 

and genetic diversity;

•  enhancing the benefits from biodiversity and ecosystem services to all; and 
•  enhancing implementation through participatory planning, knowledge 

management and capacity-building.

For each of these goals, individual targets have been set to assist in monitoring 

how effectively the goals are being reached. In attempting to achieve these goals, China 

has begun investing in reforestation, which has resulted in a 2.9 per cent annual gain 

in forest coverage since 2000. Brazil has introduced additional legislation in an attempt 

to curb deforestation, while Russia has hosted a Tiger Summit that was attended by 13 

countries which pledged to double the population of wild tigers by 2020 (Wu, 2011).

The BRICS Ministers of Agriculture and Agrarian Development met in 

Pretoria in 2013, following the Ethekwini Summit, to discuss the negative effects 

of climate change on food security (DIRCO, 2013). The discussion focused on 

the need to promote government interventions and participatory approaches for 

a social-ecological economic development trajectory. Such interventions should 

strengthen local economies and increase their resilience to exogenous shocks, 

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especially at the household level, where food, water and energy dependence is high. 
It should also emphasise small-scale and sustainable livelihoods. This would mean 
support in the form of policies and subsidies for improving local food production 
in rural and urban areas through agro-ecological production, seed-saving and local 
food markets, among other interventions. 

Before the 2013 Ministers’ meetings, the first meeting of the BRICS  

Agricultural Cooperation Working Group was held in Beijing, China, in August 
2011. At this meeting, the Working Group agreed to establish an Action Plan on 
Agricultural Cooperation of the BRICS countries for 2012-2016. The focus of the 
Action Plan would be to ensure access to food for the most vulnerable.

Four of the five BRICS nations experience difficulties with respect to feeding 

their people. Brazil has greatly reduced the proportion of undernourished citizens 
from approximately 15 per cent to 6.9 per cent. About 10 per cent of the Indian 
and Chinese populations are undernourished or food deprived; Brazil and South 
Africa are a little better, since less than 10 per cent of their populations are 
undernourished. Food security is a major concern for India and China. Due to 
their very large populations (2.5 billion people in total), they must both dramatically 
increase agricultural productivity and maintain reliable food suppliers abroad. 
Food shortages can lead to social unrest. Learning from Brazilian knowledge about 
agricultural productivity is, therefore, vital (Steunkel, 2013).

2 MAIN CHALLENGES

2.1 Social protection safety net programmes for all

Large proportions of BRICS populations are deprived of social protection due 
to the continued existence and expansion of the informal sector. According to 
the 2014 International Labour Organization report 

Global Employment Trends

, 

demographic challenges are likely to have the most influence on benefit provision 
in the BRICS countries, since increasing life expectancy and a descending birth 
rate mean countries will age rapidly (International Labour Organization, 2014). 

Ensuring access to social protection services is a challenge for all the BRICS 

members due to the physical size of the countries and their populations. Ensuring 
universal access to social protection has required vast logistical operations for those 
living in remote rural areas. Other challenges include banking facilities used as a 
condition for accessing benefits. In India only 40 per cent of the population has a 
bank account, while only 5 per cent of villages have access to a commercial bank 
(Bank of India, n.d.). In the case of South Africa the distance and cost to travel to 
major cities or towns to access services is a major constraint.