GREEN FINANCE: BRICS Ministers Agree to Advance Environmental Cooperation

Joint statement signals the BRICS ministers’ intention to focus on collaborative solutions and best practices to address: plastic pollution and waste; desertification, land degradation, and drought; preservation, restoration, and valuation of ecosystem services; and collective leadership for climate through synergies with the above-mentioned issue areas.

Expressing concern over the “substantial gaps” between the current annual quantum provided under the NCQG and developing countries’ financing needs, the ministers look forward to the ‘Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T’ “as a targeted effort to increase climate finance flows toward developing countries”.

They urge developed countries to fulfill their obligations on climate finance, including by disclosing how they plan to achieve the goal of USD 300 billion per year by 2035 under the NCQG.

Environment ministers from the BRICS bloc of developing countries have issued a joint statement on advancing environmental cooperation towards sustainable development and a just transition for all. In it, they note that “[t]he expanded BRICS reinforces its major role in global affairs and the cooperation among… countries, which can positively contribute to… the global environmental agenda.”

Initially comprised of Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China, and South Africa, the recently expanded alliance now also includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The 11th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting convened in Brasilia, Brazil, on 3 April 2025. The meeting took place in advance of the 17th BRICS Summit in July and the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 30) in November. Brazil holds the 2025 Presidency for both.

In her opening remarks, Brazil’s Environment Minister Marina Silva underscored the importance of the Global South for multilateralism and international cooperation. Representing about half of the world’s population and 39% of global gross domestic product (GDP), she said BRICS offer “an increasingly fertile space for innovation, rich in cultural diversity, with strategic resources, and an immense quantity and quality of natural capital.”

Highlighting poverty eradication as “the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development,” the 12-page joint statement signals the BRICS ministers’ intention to focus on collaborative solutions and best practices to address: plastic pollution and waste; desertification, land degradation, and drought; preservation, restoration, and valuation of ecosystem services; and collective leadership for climate through synergies with the above-mentioned issue areas.

Expressing concern over the “substantial gaps” between the current annual quantum provided under the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) and developing countries’ financing needs, the ministers look forward to the ‘Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T’ “as a targeted effort to increase climate finance flows toward developing countries.” They urge developed countries to fulfill their obligations on climate finance, including by disclosing how they plan to achieve the goal of USD 300 billion per year by 2035 under the NCQG.

In his remarks to the meeting, COP 30 President-designate André Corrêa do Lago outlined Brazil’s proposal for an innovative Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), focused on forest conservation.

In addition to the ministerial declaration, the representatives of the 11 member countries approved a work plan, including a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on environmental cooperation for the 2024-2027 period. The document outlines around 50 practical activities in air quality, environmental education, biodiversity, waste and chemical management, water resources, coastal and marine areas, and climate change, among other strategic fields.