Towards an Intra-BRICS Implementation and Accountability Framework on Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires an effective, legitimate, collaborative and well-function system of accountability that enables various account holders to take different responsibilities to achieve the goals. This is an essential lesson from the 15 years of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is something that has also been under development for some time since the mid-2000s. The BRICS is a significant platform in international development diplomacy by virtue of the size of their voice and the potential weight of their exemplary conduct concerning matters of the global public good. Together they account for about 43% of the global population, about 25% of the global GDP, 11% of global foreign direct investment flows and 17% of world trade. The BRICS countries have made the achievement of development goals crucial for realising the vision of an inclusive, just and equitable world system. They have also committed themselves to achieve SDG. In their Goa summit meeting in India in 2016, the (BRICS 2016) countries welcomed the world’s commitment to a people-centred and holistic approach to sustainable development and the emphasis on equality, equity and quality of life. They supported the reaffirmation of common but differentiated responsibilities as a guiding principle. In 2017, in China, the BRICS countries committed to enhance BRICS cooperation on climate change and expand green financing (BRICS 2017). They are committed to results-oriented cooperation. There is no better way in which BRICS could play a catalytic role in this area than to adopt an intra-BRICS accountability framework and, secondly, champion accountability across the world as a form of “exemplary behaviour”. This chapter discusses how this implementation and mutual accountability framework could be framed.