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Environment ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) have called for greater international cooperation on energy access, conservation, environmentally friendly technologies, concessional finance and technology transfer, while India’s energy storage industry has urged BRICS members Brazil, Russia and the United Arab Emirates to deepen cooperation on energy storage, supply chains and critical minerals.
The twin developments come as the 12th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting, held under India’s chairship in New Delhi on August 18, 2026, adopted a joint statement covering sustainable lifestyles, forest and land management, circular economy and climate adaptation.
The India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) said that it had submitted recommendations to the Indian government following a virtual event organised by the Union power ministry, for which the alliance provided technical coordination.
IESA said the recommendations focused on advanced energy storage technologies, resilient supply chains, critical mineral security, harmonised standards and joint demonstration projects.
“Energy storage is now essential for both grid flexibility and resilience as renewable integration rises. No single technology can meet all system needs; diverse solutions and strong BRICS collaboration across value chains, manufacturing, and innovation are critical,” said Debmalya Sen, president of IESA.
Sustainable lifestyles could promote efficient resource utilisation, environmental protection, sustainable livelihoods, equitable economic opportunities, energy access and conservation, as well as environmentally friendly technologies that improve the resilience and well-being of vulnerable communities, the BRICS joint statement read.
The ministers agreed to strengthen international cooperation, technology transfer and sharing, knowledge exchange and capacity building in accordance with national priorities and circumstances.
The statement also reiterated the importance of improving the accessibility and availability of finance from developed countries, particularly concessional finance for developing countries, alongside technology development, transfer and capacity building.
The push for greater cooperation comes as India expands renewable energy and energy storage capacity while remaining dependent on imports for several minerals and components needed for clean energy technologies.
According to IESA, India’s energy storage project pipeline has crossed 100 gigawatts, with around 10 GW commissioned. A government official participating in the virtual event said the country remained highly import-dependent for minerals and key components and called for expanding production-linked incentive support to recycling and advanced chemistries, along with dedicated allocations for stationary storage.
IESA also cited Brazil’s mineral resources and processing potential as an area for cooperation. “Clean-energy technologies require substantially higher mineral inputs than conventional energy systems. The growth of downstream battery manufacturing depends on secure upstream supply and midstream processing, where BRICS countries collectively hold significant resource advantages,” said José Jesus Lima Neto, infrastructure analyst at Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy.
IESA said Brazil’s upcoming capacity reserve auction for battery projects with national content requirements could support local value chain development.
The alliance’s recommendations include mutual recognition of test reports, harmonised measurement protocols and coordinated pilot projects for distributed storage.
Shuvendu Kumar Bose, energy expert at the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, said the challenge for renewable energy systems was increasingly linked to transmission economics rather than renewable variability alone.
“Co-locating storage can improve dispatchability, flatten tariffs, and reduce overall system costs, while also raising critical regulatory questions on tariff design and cost allocation. Our large-scale solar-plus-battery projects reflect this new focus,” Bose said.
Yuri Vlasov, founder and chief executive officer of Watts Battery, Russia, said system adequacy and local network reliability could diverge, creating localised outages even when the broader grid remained adequate.
“Building-level storage addressed network constraints more cost-effectively and rapidly than conventional grid reinforcement. Harmonised standards and joint pilots for distributed storage are the way forward,” Vlasov said.
IESA said experts from The Energy and Resources Institute, or TERI, and Brazil’s Electric Sector Studies Group, or GESEL / UFRJ, also discussed the potential of long-duration energy storage, while participants from the UAE and Russia highlighted the need for supportive regulation and standardised techno-economic assessment.
Beyond energy cooperation, the BRICS environment ministers called for a significant scaling up of new, additional, predictable, adequate and accessible international support for adaptation through finance, technology transfer and capacity building.
They said adaptation support should be accessible, grant-based and concessional and should not exacerbate the financial vulnerabilities of developing countries. The statement urged developed countries to fulfil the COP30 decision on tripling adaptation finance for developing countries by 2035, while improving the quality and accessibility of finance and avoiding additional financial burdens.
The ministers also opposed unilateral, punitive, discriminatory and protectionist measures that they said were not in line with international law, specifically citing carbon border adjustment mechanisms. They said such measures could undermine developing countries’ efforts to address climate impacts and build adaptive capacity and resilience.
The statement reaffirmed the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, and the Paris Agreement. It also stressed nationally determined just transitions and a balance between mitigation and adaptation.
The 12th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting focused on four priorities: promoting sustainable lifestyles; afforestation, forest fire management and disaster resilience; circular economy; and climate adaptation through people-centric and community-based approaches built on traditional knowledge.
BRICS members welcomed the possibility of organising a BRICS Sustainable Lifestyle Week during the first week of November 2026 on a voluntary and non-binding basis. They also supported the creation of a Network of BRICS Institutions to Advance Knowledge Sharing, Research and Innovation in Sustainable Lifestyles.
On forests and land, the ministers called for integrated, landscape-based approaches to afforestation, reforestation and ecosystem restoration. They also stressed the need for adequate, predictable and long-term financing for forest conservation and resilient landscapes, including innovative mechanisms and private investment.
The countries endorsed greater cooperation on wildfire management, including interoperable early warning systems, risk assessment tools, satellite and ground-based ecosystem monitoring and community-based alert mechanisms. The statement welcomed two documents issued under India’s chairship: the Common Understanding for Forest Fire Preparedness and Response across BRICS and the BRICS Principles for Integrated Landscape Management for Combating Desertification, Sustainable Land Management and Ecosystem Resilience.
On the circular economy, the ministers highlighted the transition away from a linear take, make and dispose model and called for stronger waste management frameworks, extended producer responsibility, eco design, sustainable public procurement and investment in recycling and recovery infrastructure. They also invited international financial institutions, including the New Development Bank, to support developing countries’ efforts to build circular infrastructure.
The statement further endorsed BRICS principles for climate resilience based on people-centric and community-based adaptation, with an emphasis on integrating traditional, indigenous, local and scientific knowledge.
The ministers also reaffirmed cooperation through existing initiatives, including the BRICS Environmentally Sound Technology Platform, BRICS Clean Rivers and the BRICS Partnership for Urban Environmental Sustainability. China will host the 13th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting in 2027.