BRICS India summit needs a green and resilient agenda

The subsequent BRICS Summit shall be held in India this yr. Having hosted the G-20 (2023), infrastructure and organisational processes are in place, however India should rapidly hone in on the Summit’s focus. This could clearly resonate with India and BRICS, however critically be a difficulty that’s of important significance for the International South.

Given its vastly elevated vulnerabilities to local weather change, resilience is a high precedence for the South, and in addition 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 underneath immense stress, with local weather change being notably singled out by the USA and being known as a hoax together with a visual push for extra fossil gas use. The Donald Trump administration has mentioned that it’s going to 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, dealing with 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, nevertheless, raises the hackles of President Trump who thinks that it’s anti-American and an try and dislodge the greenback. Given the huge gamut of India-U.S. ties, together with the crucial of an appropriate commerce deal, staying away from large tariffs regarding Russian oil imports and making certain 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 throughout the G-20 Summit in Delhi that noticed a profitable balancing of worldwide geopolitics with Indian pursuits, together with defending its strategic autonomy via multi-alignment and management of the International South.

Local weather change is a standard concern

On the United Nations Framework Conference on Local weather Change (UNFCCC), the outdated grouping of BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India, China) has been helpful and can proceed to have its function however a bigger grouping of main creating nation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 could add better heft. This was seen in Belém to make sure that the dealing with of fossil fuels didn’t stymie growth imperatives of creating international locations. Local weather impacts, whereas various in type and depth, are a standard 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 growth.

This function is additional bolstered by a number of BRICS members having shouldered duty 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 ideas 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 end result 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 International 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 attainable, given the U.S.’s antipathy to local weather change — a truth 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 yr, India is in a pivotal place to push for collaborative international motion, at the least as amongst a lot of the world that may be a part of, on resilience and an inclusive inexperienced agenda. This shall be in its curiosity in addition to a crucial crucial for the International South.

Furthermore, geopolitically for India, a BRICS push retains Chinese language ambitions on international management on a inexperienced agenda in verify. 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