LAGOS, Nigeria (Voice of Naija) Leaders of the expanded BRICS bloc have called for greater international cooperation on climate change, energy, food security and technology.
The BRICS summit, held in New Delhi from September 12 to 13, brought together leaders of the expanded 11-member group, including India, China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that the leaders met under the theme of building greater resilience and cooperation.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the summit to warn that geopolitical tensions, supply-chain disruptions, and climate crises were increasingly affecting ordinary people worldwide.
According to the Associated Press, Modi called for stronger international cooperation and announced initiatives including an early warning system for infectious diseases.
The summit’s declaration also addressed climate action, food security, energy and artificial intelligence.
The climate component of the meeting comes at a particularly significant time, with extreme weather events continuing to affect countries across several regions.
The World Meteorological Organization recently reported that the Earth experienced its hottest August on record, while heat, drought, flooding, and other climate-related extremes continue to pressure governments and communities.
BRICS leaders therefore face growing pressure to turn broad climate commitments into practical measures, particularly in developing countries that often have fewer resources to respond to extreme weather.
The group also discussed energy security, a subject that has become increasingly important because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
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The war and disruption around major shipping routes have raised concerns about oil supplies, while several BRICS members are major producers or consumers of fossil fuels.
The summit’s declaration called for greater cooperation on energy and food security alongside climate action, reflecting the interconnected nature of the challenges facing member states.
China also used the summit to push for deeper economic cooperation among what President Xi Jinping described as the “Greater BRICS” grouping.
Reuters reported that Xi proposed new initiatives covering artificial intelligence, trade and financial cooperation, including a BRICS AI Open Source Zone and a future Service Trade Forum, and China also proposed cooperation around a special economic zone.
The proposals are part of a broader effort to strengthen economic links between BRICS members and reduce dependence on institutions and systems dominated by Western countries.
However, the summit also exposed differences within the expanded bloc as BRICS now includes countries with sharply different political positions, economic interests and relationships with the United States and its allies.
The war involving Iran was particularly challenging because Iran and the UAE are both members of the group while maintaining different strategic relationships with major global powers.
According to Al Jazeera, the bloc avoided directly condemning the United States and Israel over the war with Iran, highlighting the difficulty of reaching a stronger unified political position among its members.
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Despite those differences, leaders were able to agree on language supporting de-escalation, international cooperation and greater stability.
The ability of BRICS to reach agreement on climate, energy, food security and other global issues will be closely watched as the group seeks to present itself as an alternative centre of global influence.
For developing economies, climate action is particularly important because extreme weather can damage agriculture, infrastructure and public health while increasing government spending.
The World Meteorological Organization has warned that the developing El Niño could intensify extreme weather risks into 2027, adding another layer of uncertainty for countries already facing climate pressures.
The phenomenon is expected to influence rainfall and temperature patterns across different parts of the world, potentially affecting food production, water supplies and disaster risks.
BRICS members include some of the world’s largest agricultural producers, energy consumers and emerging economies, meaning climate-related disruptions in one member country can have consequences for others through food and commodity markets.
The summit therefore placed climate change alongside trade, technology and geopolitical security as part of the bloc’s wider effort to build resilience.
At the end of the meeting, India handed the BRICS chairmanship to China for the next term. The transition is expected to bring further discussions over trade, technology, climate policy and the future role of the expanded grouping.
For BRICS, the challenge now will be translating summit declarations into measurable action.
The group’s growing membership gives it significant economic and demographic weight, but its ability to influence global affairs will ultimately depend on whether countries with competing interests can cooperate on issues that directly affect populations, including climate change, energy security, food supplies and extreme weather.
