BRICS pledge to boost cooperation on disaster management

The BRICS nations-Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa-have pledged to boost cooperation on disaster management against the backdrop of exacerbating situation of climate change, the increasingly frequent natural disasters, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

They, for example, will ratchet up exchange of policies regarding strategic planning, law, regulation and standard about disaster mitigation and prevention, according to a joint declaration released after the 3rd Meeting of BRICS Ministers for Disaster Management, which was held virtually on Friday.

In moves to promote cooperation among disaster management authorities in BRICS countries, more high-level visits and experience-sharing among administrative staff members and technicians will be carried out, the document said.

Among the key sectors where BRICS countries plan to beef up cooperation are risk monitoring, early warning and assessment, accident prevention in production activities, capacity building for emergency rescue forces and post-disaster reconstruction, it noted.

It said they will also roll out joint research and development to promote technological innovations.

In his keynote speech at the meeting, Wang Xiangxi, minister of emergency management, stressed the great importance Chinese government has attached to natural disaster control and its willingness to beef up cooperation with other BRICS nations on disaster management. 

Adhering to people-centered development philosophy and the belief that nothing is more precious than people's lives, China has made accelerated efforts to promote the modernization of its emergency management system to resolutely curb major accidents, he said.

As influential emerging economies and developing nations, the minister said, BRICS countries all suffer from various types of natural disasters and it's a consensus for them to ramp up exchange and cooperation to comprehensively strengthen disaster mitigation capabilities.

Aside from sharing its experiences in tackling disasters, China is also willing to jointly boost innovations in the development of emergency management technologies, he noted.

Wang said he looked forward to seeing more in-depth and pragmatic "BRICS Plus" cooperation in disaster management, as the countries make joint efforts to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and foster a global community of development with a shared future.