BRICS leaders call for more inclusive climate governance and greater finance flows to Global South

As the BRICS Summit comes to a close in Rio de Janeiro, members have signed a joint declaration calling for more inclusive climate governance and to increase the flow of climate finance from developed economies to the Global South.

“We emphasize that ensuring accessible, timely and affordable climate finance for developing countries is critical for enabling just transition pathways that combine climate action with sustainable development. We underscore that the provision and mobilisation of resources under the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement is a responsibility of developed countries towards developing countries,” the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE wrote in the declaration.

The call comes after many criticised the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) agreed last year at COP29 – which will see rich countries channel US$300 billion of climate finance to Global South economies annually – as insufficient.

The document signed in Rio de Janeiro yesterday (July 6), entitled ‘Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance’, includes 126 commitments covering global governance, finance, health, artificial intelligence, climate change, and other strategic cooperation areas.

Climate research and data

Among other climate-related announcements, the members agreed on the terms of reference of the BRICS Climate Research Platform and BRICS Laboratory for Trade, Climate Change and Sustainable Development.

The two mechanisms aim to promote Global South collaboration for climate science and innovation at a time when these activities are being actively defunded by the US.

Also at the BRICS Summit, Brazil and China agreed to jointly develop a new satellite for climate monitoring. CBERS-5 will be positioned above Brazil at a lower orbit altitude to provide the country with detailed climate data, supporting adaptation and resilience.

“We are seeing traditional partners reducing investment in climate technologies for ideological reasons. CBERS-5 seeks to supply the continent with environmental spatial data, the supply of which may be interrupted in the near future,” Luciana Santos, Brazil’s Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, said.

CBAM and carbon markets

In the declaration, BRICS members also reject “unilateral, punitive and discriminatory protectionist measures, that are not in line with international law, under the pretext of environmental concerns, such as unilateral and discriminatory carbon border adjustment mechanisms (CBAMs), deforestation regulation, due diligence requirements, taxes and other measures”.

However, they expressed support for the development of a high-integrity carbon market under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, reiterating the role that the BRICS Carbon Markets Partnership can play in promotive cooperation and capacity building.

The BRICS Carbon Markets Partnership was launched last year and aims to harmonise carbon market rules and targets among all BRICS countries.