The subsequent BRICS Summit might be held in India this 12 months. Having hosted the G-20 (2023), infrastructure and organisational processes are in place, however India should shortly hone in on the Summit’s focus. This could clearly resonate with India and BRICS, however critically be a difficulty that’s of significant significance for the World South.
Given its vastly elevated vulnerabilities to local weather change, resilience is a high precedence for the South, and likewise underscores India’s and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s international management on an inclusive inexperienced agenda.
Want for a stabilising power
Within the Trump polar world, collaborative multilateralism is below immense stress, with local weather change being significantly singled out by the USA and being known as a hoax together with a visual push for extra fossil gasoline use. The Donald Trump administration has stated that it’ll withdraw the U.S. from 66 worldwide organisations, which incorporates the India-helmed Worldwide Photo voltaic Alliance. In actual fact, the U.S. stayed away from the COP30 in Belém, Brazil, in November 2025 — one thing that presumably ensured a continuation of the COP course of. With the Europeans, who for lengthy positioned themselves as local weather champions, going through home local weather fatigue and exterior nationwide safety priorities, there’s a sure area for a stabilising power for collaborative motion on sustainability and resilience. BRICS can endeavour in direction of this.
The acronym, BRICS, nonetheless, raises the hackles of President Trump who thinks that it’s anti-American and an try to dislodge the greenback. Given the huge gamut of India-U.S. ties, together with the crucial of a suitable commerce deal, staying away from large tariffs referring to Russian oil imports and guaranteeing a sure presidential happiness in Washington DC will definitely want a sure adroitness on the a part of India on the BRICS Summit. Such diplomatic capability was on show in the course of the G-20 Summit in Delhi that noticed a profitable balancing of worldwide geopolitics with Indian pursuits, together with defending its strategic autonomy by means of multi-alignment and management of the World South.
Local weather change is a typical concern
On the United Nations Framework Conference on Local weather Change (UNFCCC), the previous grouping of BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India, China) has been helpful and can proceed to have its function however a bigger grouping of main creating nation gamers might add larger heft. This was seen in Belém to make sure that the dealing with of fossil fuels didn’t stymie improvement imperatives of creating international locations. Local weather impacts, whereas various in kind and depth, are a typical concern throughout BRICS, starting from dangers to infrastructure, well being, livelihoods and ecosystems arising from permafrost thaw, pressures on the Amazon and the Himalayas, and rising vulnerabilities in coastal and riverine areas. It’s in their very own curiosity to collectively advance a stronger worldwide agenda on adaptation, resilience, fairness and sustainable improvement.
This function is additional bolstered by a number of BRICS members having shouldered accountability for steering the worldwide local weather course of after the Paris Settlement got here into power. Brazil, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have presided over local weather conferences within the post-COVID-19 pandemic interval, serving to safeguard momentum on local weather motion. A BRICS act would even be helpful on a unilateral side-stepping of UNFCCC rules such because the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. A gap of a broader local weather debate, together with commerce, was initiated at Belém.
A serious consequence of the July 2025 BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro was BRICS Leaders’ Framework Declaration on Local weather Finance, a matter the place India has been sturdy in articulating the calls for of the World South.
With finance being the important thing enabler for local weather motion, there’s a want to incorporate the World Financial institution and Worldwide Financial Fund chiefs within the BRICS Summit. It’s not the time to not deal with them as “theirs (G-7 or G-20’s)” and never simply confine BRICS to the New Growth Financial institution. Any international push on local weather finance with out them is hardly doable, given the U.S.’s antipathy to local weather change — a reality additionally mirrored in how their corporates and personal monies are reacting, together with pulling again from Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG( necessities and even ‘inexperienced’ bonds and different funds.
BRICS is now about Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the UAE, collectively comprising half of the worldwide inhabitants, round 40% of worldwide GDP, and round 26% of worldwide commerce. Its voice and heft are appreciable.
An opportunity for Indian to drive change
Because the helmsman of BRICS this 12 months, India is in a pivotal place to push for collaborative international motion, at the very least as amongst a lot of the world that can be a part of, on resilience and an inclusive inexperienced agenda. This might be in its curiosity in addition to a vital crucial for the World South.
Furthermore, geopolitically for India, a BRICS push retains Chinese language ambitions on international management on a inexperienced agenda in test. India’s inexperienced agenda specializing in resilience on the BRICS Summit 2026 would additionally resonate with Ethiopia, the host of COP32 in 2027.
Ambassador Manjeev Singh Puri is Distinguished Fellow, TERI, and former Lead Negotiator for India on the United Nations Framework Conference on Local weather Change (UNFCCC). Shailly Kedia is Senior Fellow, TERI, and Curator, World Sustainable Growth Summit
Printed – January 23, 2026 12:08 am IST
