Why forest economy can become a driving force of the development of BRICS cooperaion

Abstract

The changing global geopolitical and economic landscape generates growing interest in new strategic alliances among the world’s fastest growing economies. This is certainly true for the BRICS countries, whose importance for the contemporary world cannot be overestimated. As soon as the group begins to turn into a more institutionalized organization, the question of establishing closer and more numerous economic and social ties will arise. The paper analyzes the trends in the development of the forest economy in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa over the past two decades. It assesses each country’s share in the global timber harvesting and its position on the international market for forest products. Accounting for slightly less than 1/3 of the global annual harvest, the BRICS countries have boosted production and export of their forest products in the XXI century. According to our calculations, only India and China’s production and export of sawn timber and wood panels increased tenfold. The paper examines conditions for turning the forest economy into one of the drivers of cooperation between the BRICS countries and the existing financial, political and environmental constraints. Such cooperation will be possible if there is sufficient demand for forestry products in BRICS; it will require measures to radically improve the logistics of trade between the countries, given their great mutual remoteness. The important role of the BRICS countries in the global forest economy can become an important factor in the further development of cooperation within the group, especially after the expansion expected in 2024.