Economic, environmental and social sustainability for countries around the world – these are the benchmarks embodied in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. The BRICS countries are actively integrating them into their national strategies, according to TV BRICS.
Criticism of sustainability model
The set of 17 interlinked goals as a blueprint for achieving a better and more sustainable future for all was introduced in 2015, and it was envisaged that the UN SDGs would be achieved by 2030. However, in recent years, statements about the risk of missing the deadline have become increasingly frequent.
In September 2025, a meeting of the G20 foreign ministers took place during the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly. At that time, the Group of Twenty was chaired by South Africa. The representatives of the G20 focused primarily on financing commitments under the SDGs. Indonesia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sugiono, warned his colleagues of the risk of an annual funding shortfall of US$4 trillion. Such a lack of financing would prevent countries from fulfilling their commitments by 2030. According to experts, these concerns are not unfounded. Many international financial institutions are not showing sufficient interest in meeting these obligations.
Concerns about the implementation of the SDGs were also shared by the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa. He noted that up to 85 per cent of the Sustainable Development Goals are at risk of failure. In his view, challenges such as low growth rates, high levels of public debt, tightening financial conditions and limited budgetary resources are weakening the position of states. Brazil, in turn, expressed concern over the retreat of international creditors from their commitments to support developing countries in addressing the consequences of climate change.
In 2024, the idea of a new development concept was proposed at the BRICS Academic Forum, primarily focused on the energy transition. It is based on the broadest possible use of renewable, intangible and, above all, intellectual resources, such as artificial intelligence, information technology, circular energy systems and green agriculture. This fits into the concept of a new sustainable development paradigm in which the SDGs are not merely declarative but are implemented through investment and effective programmes under the South–South cooperation framework. The idea is that, instead of relying on official development assistance (ODA), developing countries become donors to themselves.
“BRICS is shaping an alternative mechanism for financing sustainable development for developing economies, with the New Development Bank serving as the key institution. As research data show, the NDB deliberately reallocates long-term capital to sectors with a high multiplier effect: clean energy, water supply, and social and environmental infrastructure. Since 2015, these areas have formed the core of the Bank’s project portfolio, directly corresponding to SDGs 6, 7, 9 and 13,” Antonina Gomulina, Senior Lecturer at the Department of World Economy and Statistics of P. G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University, said in an exclusive interview with TV BRICS.
Economic backbone
“BRICS is regarded as a new model for development and for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals,” agrees Doctor of Economics, Professor, Chief Research Fellow at the Institute for Research on International Economic Relations of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, RAS expert and Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Valery Abramov. “The joint activities of the BRICS countries to achieve the UN SDGs are based on the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership until 2025.” In this document, the BRICS countries describe their activities as a platform for dialogue and cooperation among the member states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which collectively account for 30 per cent of the world’s land area and 43 per cent of the global population, 21 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP), 17.3 per cent of global merchandise trade, 12.7 per cent of global trade in services and 45 per cent of global agricultural production.
Thus, BRICS plays a vital role in the global economy in terms of total output, investment capital and the expansion of potential consumer markets. This means that, in matters of development, it can reasonably rely on its own resources, particularly as the group’s objectives largely overlap with the UN SDGs.
“In the field of sustainable development, measures are envisaged to develop and introduce technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, manage waste and mitigate anthropogenic impact on the climate. To improve the quality of life of the population, the BRICS countries will develop education, healthcare and agriculture, revise visa regimes, and support mutual cultural and youth cooperation,” Valery Abramov noted.
It is noteworthy that by 2022 the BRICS countries accounted for around 42 per cent of global renewable electricity generation, demonstrating the group’s tangible contribution to the global energy transition and the shift towards ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) principles, Antonina Gomulina added. Thus, she says, BRICS is not building a supranational model for SDG governance, but through the New Development Bank it is creating a sustainable financial framework that transforms the UN goals into concrete investment and economic projects at the national level.
SDGs through infrastructure development
The total amount of projects approved by the New Development Bank aimed at developing the Global South has already reached US$39 billion. All these funds have been channelled towards increasing clean energy generation capacity, reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and constructing 35,000 housing units, 43 schools, 1,400 km of tunnels and canals, and 40,400 km of roads.
At the same time, experts also highlight major infrastructure projects in BRICS countries that are not related to the NDB, implemented in stages and delivering measurable economic effects, such as Benban Solar Park in Egypt. This solar power complex in the desert near Aswan has become a key element of Egypt’s strategy to achieve a 42 per cent share of renewable energy in its energy mix by 2030.
“The solar complex was commissioned in stages from 2018 onwards and ultimately became one of the largest solar parks in the world, with a total installed capacity of around 1.6 GW. The project has contributed to diversifying the country’s energy balance and reducing dependence on fossil fuels, supporting SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and SDG 13 (climate action),” Antonina Gomulina noted.
In India, one of the largest infrastructure projects has been the state programme Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen. This large-scale Indian initiative aims to improve sanitation and waste management. Between 2014 and 2019, the state subsidised the construction of around 90 million sanitation facilities. The programme significantly expanded physical access to sanitation and reduced public health risks, in line with SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), as well as SDG 3 (health), SDG 5 (gender equality) and SDG 11 (sustainable cities).
In China, an example of a systemic approach to implementing the UN SDGs is the Sponge City Programme. This large-scale government initiative aims to combat urban flooding, water scarcity and environmental pollution caused by rapid urbanisation and climate change. Around 30 pilot cities were selected in 2015–2016. Even in its pilot phase, the programme helped to reduce potential climate-related damage and enhance the resilience of urban infrastructure, corresponding to SDGs 11 and 13.
“In the UAE, the Sharjah Sustainable City project is illustrative,” Antonina Gomulina said. “This is an already functioning and inhabited urban community. It uses energy-efficient buildings, solar generation and water reuse systems.” The economic effect is reflected in lower utility costs and the creation of a scalable model of sustainable urban development aligned with SDGs 11 and 12 (responsible consumption and production).
Nevertheless, the BRICS countries also face significant challenges in implementing certain SDGs. For example, infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, viral haemorrhagic fevers, cholera and dangerous zoonotic infections (diseases transmitted to humans from non-human animals) continue to exert considerable pressure in BRICS countries. Another vector of infectious threat that has recently received particular attention from the group is antimicrobial resistance.
However, cooperation among the BRICS countries in healthcare has the potential to deliver positive results. This primarily concerns the training of medical specialists through the development of distance learning and artificial intelligence, the dissemination and widespread implementation of telemedicine technologies for early diagnosis, and joint efforts to combat viral outbreaks.
Technological development in the BRICS countries should also contribute to the implementation of UN SDG 4 (quality education), particularly through the creation of joint educational platforms and projects. Today, the member states cooperate at the level of relevant ministries, universities and research centres, develop student and academic exchanges, implement network-based educational programmes and create joint research projects.
“Since 2024, the BRICS countries have demonstrated positive dynamics in the field of innovation and digitalisation. Growth in the number of internet and mobile network users has been recorded, and access to modern digital financial instruments has expanded,” Valery Abramov noted.
Experts also single out the phenomenon of smart cities, which complement the digitalisation of healthcare and education through more efficient management of urban infrastructure and social services. The economic effect here is reflected in increased returns on existing investments – cities achieve greater social outcomes at the same or even lower cost.
“Ultimately, for BRICS, digitalisation is a pragmatic economic instrument that simultaneously enhances the quality of human capital and ensures the sustainability of public finances, rather than a separate technological or image-driven agenda,” Antonina Gomulina believes.
The development of technologies ensuring equitable access to quality healthcare and education simultaneously contributes to the implementation of UN SDG 10 (reducing inequality within and among countries). In India, for example, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana financial inclusion programme has provided millions of Indians with access to bank accounts, credit and insurance services. In Brazil, there is a National Report on Progress on Equality and initiatives such as the Global Compact Network Brazil, which brings together businesses to address social issues. In China, SDG 10 is implemented through large-scale state programmes aimed at narrowing the urban–rural divide. In Russia, initiatives to reduce inequality include raising the minimum wage, supporting families with children, employment programmes for people with disabilities and infrastructure development. In Indonesia, the SDG Indonesia One platform operates to finance sustainable development, alongside national strategies to expand access to education and economic opportunities.
UN SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) forms the foundation for sustainable development, as a peaceful society and fair institutions are essential to achieving all UN goals. Speaking at the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described as positive the fact that humanity is moving towards a multipolar world but warned that strong international institutions are needed to ensure that this multipolarity promotes universal prosperity. The BRICS countries are working to create such institutions, as well as platforms, forums and events to foster intercultural dialogue – in short, what is commonly referred to as soft power.
Experts consider the flexibility of the BRICS agenda to be an advantage in areas related to the implementation of SDG 16, while the absence of formal binding obligations in adopted decisions opens up broad opportunities for developing collective solutions to a wide range of tasks in order to achieve all the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In this context, dialogue becomes a means of developing shared values and smoothing political differences, thereby forming additional instruments for implementing the UN SDGs and alternative mechanisms for the development of the countries of the Global South.
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