The French Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, called on Wednesday to find “common solutions” in environmental matters in the face of the “risk of real conflict” between Western countries and the growing Brics bloc. . The Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) decided at a recent summit to integrate six new members into the club of emerging countries as of January (Iran, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates).
The group, which currently produces a quarter of the world’s wealth and brings together 42% of the world’s population, seeks to gain greater influence to counterbalance that of the United States and the European Union. For Bruno Le Maire, who spoke in Paris during a debate organized by various employers’ organizations including Impact France and the Center for Young Business Leaders, this enlargement is “probably the most important geopolitical change of the last fifty years”. “Since the end of the Second World War, the world economy was governed by Western countries,” he said.
In addition to the war in Ukraine and the commercial rivalry between China and the United States, he sees another “indication of this current conflict economy”, with the possible refusal by the Brics of environmental rules which would hinder their development. “So you have a real risk of conflict between the Western bloc, the G7, and the so-called Southern bloc, other equally powerful economies,” estimated the number two of the French government.
“In this economy of conflict, there is a continent which has a key role to play: it is Europe”, he continued, believing that it is “the only continent which can say that ‘an economy of peace is necessary’. “And rather than playing the conflict between the United States and China, Brics on one side and G7 on the other, we must find common solutions that will allow us to reduce carbon emissions, have a more united economy and a more sustainable planet,” he concluded.
