Brazil at the Helm: Steering Global Health, Climate, Finance and Innovation

February 18, 2025

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by Jefferson dos Santos Estevo* (Advanced Biofuels USA) On Thursday, February 13, the BRICS member countries launched their first document outlining priorities and goals for the year 2025, in the lead-up to their 17th Summit, with Brazil holding the rotating presidency of the Group. The chosen slogan is: "Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance."

This is Brazil’s fourth time holding the presidency (previously in 2010, 2014, and 2019), now after the expansion of the group to include new countries. As per the original acronym, the BRICS includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the latter being the most recent member. In 2023, six new countries were admitted: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran. Indonesia formally accepted the invitation to join the grouping in 2024. The following year, a new status, "BRICS Partner Country," was created, with Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan obtaining this status in early 2025.

The BRICS group emerged from a 2001 study by economist Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs, which highlighted the economic potential of these countries. After the economic growth post-2008 crisis, the BRICS gained greater international prominence. In 2011, South Africa was invited to join, officially forming the BRICS group. Since then, the bloc has consolidated itself as a relevant player in the global economy. According to the official website, with the addition of six new members in 2024, the BRICS’ share of global GDP reached 39% in 2023, accounting for 24% of global trade. The BRICS represent 48.5% of the world’s population, 36% of the global territory, 72% of rare earth mineral reserves, 43.6% of global oil production, 36% of natural gas, and 78.2% of coal reserves.

This year, Brazil’s presidency has indicated the key objectives for the current Summit:

Global Health Cooperation: Focusing on research and development of vaccines, strengthening public health cooperation, and using artificial intelligence for health systems. Aiming to launch an International Alliance for the elimination of socially determined and neglected tropical diseases.
Trade, Investment, and Finance: Reforming global financial governance, increasing the representation of developing countries, facilitating trade, investments, and technological integration among members, and strengthening the New Development Bank.
Climate Change: As the host of COP-30 in Belém, within the Amazon region, Brazil will promote a BRICS Leadership Agenda on Climate, focusing on climate finance, sustainable technology, and carbon accounting, aiming for ambitious global mobilization for COP-30 and progress on the Paris Agreement.
Governance of Artificial Intelligence: The BRICS will seek to build international AI governance that promotes sustainable and inclusive development, ensuring non-discriminatory access to technology, respect for human rights, international standards, protection of personal data, and information integrity for ethical, safe, and responsible use.

Brazil’s presidency at the Summit aligns with the current administration's external agenda under President Lula da Silva, particularly in environmental issues, combating global inequalities, and fostering international cooperation. These topics were also central to the G-20 summit in 2024, held in Brazil.

This year, Brazil will face some opposition, especially from the government of Donald Trump. On February 13, the U.S. President stated: "BRICS is dead", emphasizing his plan to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the group if they pursue a dollar substitution agenda, which aligns with goal 2. Regarding global health, Trump announced his withdrawal from the World Health Organization. On the topic of AI governance, Trump has the support of major companies like META, led by Zuckerberg, and has appointed Elon Musk to a new ministry amidst new internet regulations. Finally, regarding the climate crisis, echoing his previous administration, Trump declared the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, a year in which Brazil will host COP-30, with significant agreements on the table.

Brazil's presidency of the BRICS represents another critical moment in the country's international agenda, focusing on four important, challenging themes. With opposition from Trump’s administration, we must carefully observe and analyze each of these issues. It is important to highlight that all four of these issues are connected to the core focus of this website: energy transition and biofuels, as we will address in subsequent articles.

*Post-doctoral researcher in Political Science at the Federal University of Goiás, Brazil. Fellow of CNPQ and FAPEG jeffersonestevo@ufg.br