Policy Approaches for Circular Economy and Green Transition in the BRICS Countries

Nowadays, the world is facing many global issues; therefore, the climate change problem and pollution have become one of the key points of contemporary societies’ growing concerns. Such abovementioned environmental crises might lead to terrible consequences for the environment and humanity that are primarily tied to global warming, including sea level rise, droughts, biodiversity loss, etc. These phenomena are caused by greenhouse gases (the so-called “greenhouse effect”), which are produced alongside the generation of electricity, the manufacturing of goods, the use of transport, and the production of industrial waste. These problems are known to be aggravated against the backdrop of rapid economic growth. In this spirit, nowadays countries tend to actively engage in problem-solving activities aimed at ecological protection. BRICS, being one of the key actors shaping the contemporary world agenda, is also recognized for its active SDGs support. However, even though BRICS members are adopting various national climate policies to facilitate the green transition and the circular economy, the level of progress towards these goals varies from country to country. The goal of this paper is to identify the experiences and achievements of the BRICS countries in the implementation of different policy approaches to the circular economy and green transition. To achieve this goal, we evaluated and compared current policies, legislation, and strategies concerning green transition and circular economy initiatives in the BRICS countries; case study helped to identify major examples of SDGs support within the countries. We analyzed the effect these measures have had on shaping the countries’ circular economy and overall environment protection awareness, the ways these measures were implemented and how they will develop in the future taking into account the increasing power of BRICS in shaping the new world order.