Valdai Club

The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are important in the context of addressing global inequality. Together, they occupy a huge proportion of the Earth’s population and geographical space. Therefore, “inequality” and “equality” within the BRICS have global significance.

Despite decades of positive experience in the reception and integration of migrants, which have been accumulated by modern states, migrants remain a socially vulnerable group. From the exclusively social problems that are typical for all categories of citizens, we are returning to the issue of economics, namely, qualitative forecasting, writes Valdai Club expert Maria Apanovich.

Climate change has become one of the most pressing challenges in the world. The IPCC-6 report released in August 2021 indicated that a minimum of 2 degrees of warming is inevitable. As a result, the COP-26 conference in Glasgow in November 2021 generated immense public interest.

The only positive outcome of the coronavirus pandemic was the rapid self-cleansing of the environment. Emissions from factories ceased as they were shut down and there was lighter traffi c, resulting in better air quality. This has been corroborated by satellite images and meteorological monitoring data in many countries. Then, river water got cleaner.


Despite the intensified fight against the spread of coronavirus in Europe, the migration flows have not weakened. In the current situation, in fact, violations of the Schengen agreements on free movement have caused a unique situation that needs attention. Turkey’s Anadolu news agency last Wednesday reported an unprecedentedly large number of refugees accumulated along the borders with Greece. On the one hand, one can notice Turkey’s non-compliance with the deal with the EU, but on the other hand, an analysis of the context in which the situation has developed is also necessary.

The United Kingdom enters the eleven-month transitional period until December 31, 2020. It presumes that during this time it could be possible to complete unfinished affairs and to "divorce" in full.

On September 19-20, Salzburg hosted an unformal EU summit – yet another meeting of the heads of state, dedicated to the common and the most acute issues – first of all, migration crisis and Brexit. It is important to underscore the role Austria played and the attempts to move both problems from the deadlock.