Brazil comes to succeed Russia
From this Wednesday onwards, Brazil will assume the annual presidency of the BRICS and the fight against climate change, the use of local currencies, artificial intelligence and strengthening the integration of new members are priorities.
Brazil succeeds Russia in the presidency of the BRICS, a term created by a Goldman Sachs analyst on emerging economies, and founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, joining South Africa in 2011, and this year , Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia. The bloc represents more than 40% of the global population and more than 35% of the world’s GDP.
In 2025, countries such as Turkey, Indonesia, Nigeria, Algeria, Belarus, Cuba, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Uzbekistan and Uganda are expected to join, consolidating the bloc as a relevant voice in 2025. of the Global South.
Now, after this enlargement and the expected entry of new partners, the objective of the Brazilian presidency is to ‘clean up the house’, Ambassador Eduardo Saboia, chief BRICS negotiator in 2025, said in an interview with Lusa.
In total, Brazil will host 18 ministerial meetings that will culminate in the leaders’ summit that is scheduled to take place in July, Brazilian diplomacy detailed to Lusa.
As happened during the G20 presidency, Brazil will seek, now within the scope of BRICS, to promote global governance reform to increase the representation of the Global South in international institutions, such as the UN Security Council, the International Monetary Fund (IMF ), World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO), with an objective that involves correcting geopolitical asymmetries, through a more representative distribution of powers, ensuring that emerging countries have a greater voice in international institutions.
Climate change will also be one of the most relevant Brazilian priorities, especially because in November the Amazonian city of Belém will host the 2025 Climate Summit, ten years after the Paris Agreement, at a time when the impacts of the climate crisis are increasingly more visible.
Regarding the use of local currencies for transactions between BRICS countries, ambassador Eduardo Saboia said that the objective is to “reduce transaction costs to encourage or promote trade and the flow of investments”.
When this idea was raised in 2024, the next US president, Donald Trump, stated that the so-called BRICS countries will be punished with a 100% tariff if they take steps to undermine the dollar’s dominance in the global financial system.
Without mentioning Trump’s threat, Saboia stressed that “the BRICS countries are large holders of dollar reserves”
“So, it would be stupid to try to work towards confronting this”, he stressed, considering, however, that “the diversification of reserves is something that happens in the world and this discussion is legitimate”.
“The use of local currencies, you reduce transaction costs, this is a thing about economic efficiency, logic, I would even say capitalism. You have competition, you have efficiency”, reinforced the Brazilian diplomat.
