BRICS Scientists Supported Establishing Energy Research Platform

At the end of May, one of the largest South African cities Johannesburg hosted the 10^th anniversary BRICS Academic Forum 'Envisioning Inclusive Development Through a Socially Responsive Economy'. Liliana Proskuryakova, Director of the HSE ISSEK National Contact Centre for International Academic Mobility, presented the Russian initiative to establish BRICS Energy Research Platform.

Participants of the forum hosted by the South African BRICS Think Tank and sponsored by the South African Government and the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, discussed various aspects of economic development, healthcare, education, social sphere, sustainable development, agricultural and food security of the BRICS countries, and the scope for joint research in a number of relevant areas including energy.

Liliana Proskuryakova, Director of the HSE ISSEK National Contact Centre for International Academic Mobility made a presentation at the session on energy cooperation. The expert informed the audience about the Russian initiative to set up BRICS Energy Research Platform, voiced in June 2017 at the meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Energy Efficiency in Beijing. The declaration issued after the BRICS Summit held in September of 2017 in Xiamen confirmed the national leaders’ commitment to continue the dialogue on establishing the BRICS Energy Research Platform. This tool would promote a broad discussion of energy-related issues between the members of the group, including joint development and verification of forecasts and future estimates for the global energy sector. The platform’s main objectives would be promoting energy-related information, analytical and research activities in the interests of the BRICS countries, and preparing recommendations for coordinating their relevant policies and strategies.

The BRICS Academic Forum’s agenda for the first time had an energy research session, and it aroused genuine interest among the participants. The South African scientists suggested the session should be included in the next forums’ programme, and the ongoing cooperation in the energy field should be stepped up.

Liliana Proskuryakova
Director of the HSE ISSEK National Contact Centre for International Academic Mobility

See BRICS Academic Forum in Johannesburg: sustainable development in the 21st century (a detailed review of the forum’s presentations on the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ portal “The Russian Century”, 14.06.2018)