Occupying for the fourth time the presidency of BRICS, Brazil hosts between July 6 and 7 the summit of annual leaders of the group composed of emerging nations.
Currently, they are part of the Brazil Block, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, China, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran and Russia.
The meeting, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro, should be the scene of agreements and articulations between representatives of their eleven members, and is where the adoption of the goals of Brazilian management will be tested.
Brazil has two priorities: developmental partnerships and the strengthening of cooperation between the so -called “global south” – emerging who share social and economic characteristics in common.
To reach them, Brazil shared, in a statement, that it will concentrate “political attention” in six areas:
- Global Health Cooperation;
- Trade, investments and finances;
- Climate change;
- AI governance (artificial intelligence);
- Reform of the multilateral architecture of peace and security;
- Institutional development.
In practice, the rotary presidency allows Brazil to coordinate 100 ministerial meetings between February, as well as putting its priorities in the center, explains senior researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs, Gustavo Carvalho.
The expert, who has been studying the economic bloc for 15 years, describes Brazilian management as “lean” and believes that the revolving model of BRICS faces limitations, such as the inability to implement long -term decisions.
Eliminate disease and governance of AI
The strengthening of the global south in Brazilian plans includes eradicating tropical and “socially determined” diseases – representing diseases influenced by economic and social disparities, present in places with lack of access to basic services, for example.
Brazil then seeks to conduct a kind of international alliance for the elimination of pathologies.
The initiative would be linked to other projects that already happen in the block, such as the expansion of the BRICS research network on turberculosis, as well as the application of artificial intelligence in public health systems.
AI is also cited at another point that the Brazilian presidency intends to address in the summit: governance.
“The world requires a fair and equitable global governance for AI, where all nations and not only large companies have a voice,” Brazil points out in a statement.
Brazilian administration argues that it is necessary to build a kind of AI “international governance”, including the protection of personal data, as well as the fight against “prejudice and algorithmic discrimination”.
Gustavo Carvalho, in turn, also expects the conversation about Aviance during the annual summit.
“We also hope to see specific decisions in artificial intelligence governance, which places the group in a stronger position in the development of still incipient international policies, allowing BRICS to establish regulations that reflect the priorities of the global south,” he adds in conversation with the priority. CNN.
A bill that aims to regulate the technology was approved in December 2024 in the Federal Senate. The text, whose former president of the Legislative House Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) is authored, seeks to create a regulatory framework for the use of artificial intelligence in Brazil.
Climate financing and economic goals for 2030
Another goal of the country is to publicize a climate leadership agenda sharing solutions to “increase efforts” of not exceeding the critical limit of 1.5 ° C above that recorded at pre-industrial levels.
Action lines to follow the agenda include a statement by leaders on climate financing – a way to collect financial resources to combat changes and disasters.
Other points, without deeper details or explanations, were also put, such as “cooperation in climate and commercial synergies”.
The block’s economic bias should explore the establishment of a “global financial security network” and the reformulation of the IMF (International Monetary Fund), including the global body to be based on “quotas”.
For the professor in the Department of Economics and International Relations at UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul) Luiza Peruffa, in relation to trade, there is no consensus on one point: the adoption of a new common currency among nations.
“There is no serious conversation about countries to leave their coins to create a coin that would replace their national currencies within the circulation of domestic economies,” Peruffa said in an interview with CNN.
Although not believing in the viability of creating a new currency by BRICS, the researcher says that there are conversations about the adoption of a payment mechanism, such as a compensation system between central banks, for example.
. The exchange is temporary, and the Brazilian Central Bank has a similar deal with the United States.
In a statement, BRICS’s Brazilian presidency signals “trade facilitation measures” among members, such as regulatory cooperation.
“In order to comply with the mandate established by the BRICS leaders at the Johannesburg summit in 2023, the Presidency of Brazil will continue cooperation efforts to develop local payment instruments that facilitate trade and investment, taking advantage of more affordable, transparent, safe and inclusive payment systems among BRIC members,” the document points out.
Brazil also did not go into detail about the economic strategies of BRICS for 2030, but stressed that the focus includes three major areas:
- trade, investments and finances;
- digital economy;
- sustainable development.
International conflicts and the formation of a “task force”
Finally, two other points were placed as priorities for Brazilian leadership this year: the international security and the formation of a “task force” on institutional development.
In the first, conflicts such as those between Israel and Palestine were highlighted as the background plan for the creation of a “action on global governance”, as Brazil intends to discuss in the summit.
“BRICS can be a voice for the comprehensive reform of the United Nations,” argues the presidency.
“Brazil, as a country traditionally promoting peace and dialogue, will also act for BRICS to constitute a space for building confidence and mutual understanding, capable of promoting peaceful solutions for conflicts and disputes, such as common understandings with China about a political resolution for the crisis in Ukraine,” he adds.
The last proposal pointed out by Brazil is the formation of a “task force on institutional development” with the objective of updating the Block’s reference terms, known as TDRs.
