Bengaluru: Coming just two weeks after devastating glacier-caused floods in Nepal killed nearly 1,400 people, the BRICS New Delhi Declaration highlighted the need for adaptation, climate finance, resilience and investing in measures to reduce climate-related disaster risks.The declaration is a joint statement released during the ongoing 18th BRICS Summit at New Delhi on September 12, which India is hosting with an expanded bloc of 11 members and 10 partner countries. The theme of the Summit is “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.Climate resilience and cooperationClimate change imposes disproportionate burdens on countries and Emerging Market and Developing Economies are particularly vulnerable as they have to contend with huge gaps in climate funding, especially for adaptation, the declaration noted.In light of growing climate risks especially for countries in the Global South, BRICS nations and their partners have committed to cooperate to improve national disaster risk reduction systems and capacities to reduce disaster-related damage and protect infrastructure, human lives and livelihoods. It also commits to sharing traditional, indigenous, local knowledge and community-based approaches, to ensure preparedness and self-reliance, and to mobilize proper financing (public and private investments) for infrastructure development.“At a time when climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather, the New Delhi Declaration introduces several new and timely ideas on disaster risk reduction through international collaboration and community-led resilience building,” commented Ulka Kelkar, Executive Director, Climate, Economics and Finance, WRI India.The BRICS Voluntary Principles for Climate Resilient Urban Infrastructure call for integrating climate risk assessment into land use planning, which would be crucial to prevent maladaptation, she said in a statement. The BRICS Insurance Resilience Centre and BRICS Risk Lab can facilitate cross-country disaster risk pooling as an alternative to conventional insurance approaches which have limited effectiveness in the face of climate change.“BRICS countries are already large donors of climate finance, not just recipients, and the New Development Bank can continue to support projects for sustainable development and climate adaptation. Recognising the vulnerability and the economic importance of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in global value chains, financial access initiatives like the BRICS’ Guiding Principles for Credit Assessment Frameworks and the Jaipur Consensus can help make MSMEs more resilient to climate and economic shocks,” she added.Condemns unilateral measures such as CBAMCondemning unilateral measures such as economic and secondary sanctions, and calling them “coercive”, the BRICS New Delhi Declaration said that they were contrary to international law and have “far-reaching negative implications for the human rights, including the rights to development, health and food security, of the general population of targeted states, disproportionately affecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations, deepening the digital divide and exacerbating environmental challenges”. The declaration called to eliminate such “unlawful measures”.Also read: Nepal Floods Are a Reminder of Why We Need Better Development Models, Data Sharing, Climate FinanceThis is in line with the stands of India and other developing countries over the years: they have been vocal about their concerns about the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which the declaration also mentions.“We oppose unilateral, punitive, discriminatory and protectionist measures that are not in line with international law, such as carbon border adjustment mechanisms, and express concern that such measures undermine efforts by countries, specifically the developing countries, aimed at addressing the adverse impacts of climate change, increasing adaptive capacity and resilience,” the declaration said.In a joint statement issued by the BRICS bloc at the conclusion of the 12th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting on August 18 in New Delhi, environment and climate ministers of BRICS nations had opposed the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), calling it “punitive, discriminatory and protectionist”.The declaration noted the importance of forests of all types, and their roles in conserving biodiversity and ecosystems apart from their economic benefits, and sustaining indigenous peoples and livelihoods.Fossil fuels to remain in the energy mixThe declaration also highlighted the importance of common but differentiated responsibilities while countering climate change. Fossil fuels will therefore remain in the energy mix, BRICS nations and their partners have said:“We acknowledge fossil fuels will still play an important role in the world’s energy mix, particularly for emerging markets and developing economies, and we recognize the need to promote just, orderly, equitable and inclusive energy transitions and reduce GHG emissions in line with our climate goals and observing SDG7, and the principles of technological neutrality and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities taking into account national circumstances, needs and priorities,” the declaration read.However, fossil fuels are the undisputed root cause of the climate crisis, and acknowledging the need for an energy transition is insufficient without a concrete commitment and timeline to equitably phase out fossil fuels, said Harjeet Singh, climate activist and founding director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation.“Although developed countries bear a greater historical responsibility, major economies must also transition away from coal, oil, and gas. If they fail to do so, the devastating climate impacts they are desperately trying to adapt to will only multiply, leaving the most vulnerable to bear the ultimate cost,” Singh said.