South Africa
Earth’s energy imbalance – world is starting to cook
The earth’s energy is out of balance and the world is starting to cook, says a new report. The authors include James Hansen, who testified to the US Congress on global heating as long ago as 1988.
Planet’s health is in danger zone
Six of nine key planetary ‘health boundaries’ have been crossed, said researchers in a new report.
G20 underlines that fracturing is becoming a reality
The G20 summit which concluded yesterday in New Delhi supported our view that the global economy is fracturing into US and China-led blocs, and that India still leans to the former.
bneGREEN: The climate crisis is here, the ecosystem is starting to collapse
The climate crisis is here and the world’s ecosystem has already started to collapse. This summer has been marred by all-time record temperature highs, destructive flash flooding and record storms. Is it too late to stop a disaster?
G20 statement on Ukraine war fails to impress
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the G20 members had agreed on a statement on the war in Ukraine, in what should have been a diplomatic coup for Delhi that is hosting and chairing the G20 this year. But Ukraine was less than happy.
UN report: two years left to reduce emissions and avoid global disaster, and we probably won't make it
We have two years to fix the climate and reach the Paris accord emission targets, according to a UN global stocktake report, and we are not going to make it.
West to back India-Middle East-EU transport corridor
India and Saudi Arabia have agreed on a deal with the EU and US to build a India-Middle East-EU transport corridor that would tie their economies more closely together and rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
bneGREEN: Carbon offset market shrinks
Carbon offset markets have decreased for the first time since 2016, with companies such as food giant Nestle, the fashion house Gucci and Shell reducing their purchases of such voluntary offsets.
China's standard map scandal undermines BRICS+ unity ahead of key G20 summit
It has been only a week since the BRICS summit in South Africa was supposed to unite the emerging markets against the Western hegemony, but a new "standard map" from China has caused a nasty row over borders ahead of a key G20 summit.
bneGREEN: ExxonMobil says world will fail to meet Paris goal in 2050
Oil supermajor ExxonMobil says that the world will fail to meet the Paris Agreement goal to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius by 2050.
BRICS MATERIALS: the flourishing intra-BRICS oil trade
The addition of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iran to the BRICS+ at a summit on August 24 came as a surprise to many, but it has also significantly increased the body's clout in international oil markets.
COMMENT: Five key takeaways from the BRICS summit
The recent BRICS summit showcased efforts by the five member countries to demonstrate unity and cooperation, but the policy proposals put forward were limited in scope and ambition due to unresolved rivalries and conflicting national interests.
Top African lender Standard Bank extends co-operation deal with China's ICBC by 5 years
Africa’s largest bank by assets, Standard Bank, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) facilitated trade flows between the continent and China worth $600mn last year.
EXPLAINER: What benefits will Iran reap from BRICS+ membership?
“The benefits of Iran’s membership in BRICS group of nations will surely go down in history,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said addressing a summit of member states in Johannesburg on August 24.
Indonesia says “not now” to BRICS membership offer
The BRICS group expanded adding six new members on August 24 (Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)) but one important name was missing: Indonesia.
COMMENT: So what did happen to that claimed Turkish aspiration to join BRICS?
Evidence of any real intent in Ankara to join the emerging economies club is rather thin on the ground.
Joining BRICS is a big win for Iran
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has flown to South Africa to begin talks on Tehran's integration into BRICS starting from January. The move could finally free Iran's economy from four decades of US sanctions applied since the 1979 revolution.
BRICS adds six new members, including Iran and Saudi Arabia
The five-nation BRICS club of emerging economies announced on August 24 at its summit that it would add six new members from the start of 2024.
Differences over what BRICS should do already visible on summit's first day
Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping were no-shows at the opening session of the BRICS summit in South Africa, but divisions over the members' basic positions were visible on the very first day.
The rise of the BRICS
Over the past two decades, the world has witnessed a profound shift in the global economic and geopolitical landscape, as the rise of the BRICS nations has introduced a growing counterweight to the traditional dominance of the G7.