JOHANNESBURG, August 24. /TASS/. BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) stand against barriers in trade, including those introduced by a number of developed countries under the guise of battling climate change, the final declaration of the union’s 15th summit said.

"We oppose trade barriers including those under the pretext of tackling climate change imposed by certain developed countries and reiterate our commitment to enhancing coordination on these issues. We underline that measures taken to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss must be WTO-consistent and must not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade and should not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade," the declaration, dubbed Johannesburg-2, said.

The BRICS summit is taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa on August 22-24 and is the largest gathering of Global South heads of state and government in recent years. Its guests include the leaders of 54 African countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin is participating in the event via video link, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is onsite representing Russia in person.