Speech by President Lula at the opening of the First Meeting of Sherpas of the Brazilian BRICS Presidency
Speech read by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during the opening of the First Meeting of Sherpas of the Brazilian BRICS presidency, on February 26, in Brasília (DF)
I would like to welcome the BRICS Sherpas.
It is a pleasure to welcome Indonesia as the newest full member and all the other members and partners.
This is the first time our bloc has met in Brasil in its new format.
At this time of crisis, our historic responsibility is to seek constructive and balanced solutions.
Over the last four G20 presidencies, under the leadership of Indonesia, India, Brazil, and now South Africa, the BRICS has been central to important advances.
The BRICS will also continue to be a key player so that the ideals of the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement, and the Pact for the Future can be fulfilled.
The Brazilian Presidency will reinforce the bloc's vocation as a space for diversity and dialog in favor of a multipolar world and less asymmetrical relations.
These objectives will guide our work throughout this year.
We propose six main axes:
First axe: Reform of the Multilateral Peace and Security Architecture is unavoidable.
Resorting to unilateralism undermines the international order.
Anyone who bets on chaos and unpredictability is moving away from the collective commitments that humanity urgently needs to make.
Negotiations based on the law of the strongest are a dangerous shortcut to instability and war.
Faced with polarization and the threat of fragmentation, the consistent defense of multilateralism is the only path we must take.
China and Brazil have made an important contribution with the creation of the Group of Friends of Peace for the conflict in Ukraine.
The crisis in Gaza is causing intense concern and will only be resolved with the involvement of the countries in the region.
Just six months ago, Brazil launched a “Call to Action on Global Governance Reform” within the framework of the G20.
The rapid changes on the international stage make this call even more necessary.
The last BRICS Summits were unanimous in recognizing the urgency of reforming the United Nations, including the Security Council.
Adequate representation of emerging countries is essential for more effective and legitimate governance.
Second axe: Health cooperation is one of the greatest urgencies in the Global South.
Poverty, lack of access to basic services, and social exclusion are fertile ground for diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, dengue and others, which together threaten around 1.7 billion people in the world.
During our presidency, we intend to launch a Partnership for the Elimination of Socially Determined Diseases and Neglected Tropical Diseases.
The lack of agreement on the Pandemic Treaty, even after COVID-19 and the MPOX pandemic, is testament to the international community's lack of cohesion in the face of serious threats.
Sabotaging the work of the World Health Organization (WHO) is a mistake with serious consequences.
Strengthening the global health architecture, with the WHO at its center, is key to guaranteeing fair and equitable access to the medicines and vaccines needed for the sustainable development of our countries.
Third axe: Contributing to the improvement of the international monetary and financial system is at the root of the BRICS.
At the Fortaleza Summit in 2014, we decided to create a Bank designed to succeed where the Bretton Woods institutions continue to fail.
Based on the principle of equal voting rights and financing aligned with national priorities, the New Development Bank has completed ten years of success, with more than 33 billion dollars invested in sustainable development projects in the Global South.
The Contingent Reserve Arrangement aims to guarantee financial security for our economies.
The current escalation of protectionism in the area of trade and investment reinforces the importance of measures that seek to overcome the obstacles to our economic integration.
Increasing payment options means reducing vulnerabilities and costs.
The Brazilian Presidency is committed to developing complementary, voluntary, accessible, transparent, and secure payment platforms.
Given the speed with which industry is transforming, it will be among our priorities to deepen the Partnership for the New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR) and promote the necessary update of the BRICS Economic Partnership Strategy for 2030.
We need solutions that diversify and add value to the production of developing countries.
Fourth axe: The climate crisis is evident from the fact that last year was the hottest in history.
For the first time, global temperatures exceeded the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The planet has accumulated record temperatures and greenhouse gas concentrations.
Omission is costly and will spare no one.
Floods, droughts, and fires have drained more than 2 trillion dollars from the global economy in the last decade, in addition to the thousands of human lives tragically lost in these disasters.
The Paris Agreement and the entire climate regime are under threat.
At the COP in Belém, world leaders will have the imperative of balancing ambition and financing in tackling the climate crisis.
Only 17 countries out of the 198 signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have submitted new nationally determined contributions (NDCs) - including Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.
The BRICS has the political strength to mobilize ambitious outcomes for COP30, ensuring that economic growth goes hand in hand with social and environmental justice.
Promoting a global, fair, and responsible response will be the driving force behind the Climate Leadership Agenda proposed by the Brazilian Presidency.
Fifth axe: While offering extraordinary opportunities, Artificial Intelligence brings ethical, social, and economic challenges.
This technology must not become the monopoly of a few countries and a few companies.
Large corporations do not have the right to silence and destabilize entire nations with disinformation.
Mitigating the risks and distributing the benefits of the digital revolution is a shared responsibility.
The BRICS needs to take on the task of putting the state back at the center of debates to build fair and equitable governance, under the auspices of the United Nations.
Any attempt at economic development today involves Artificial Intelligence.
We cannot allow the unequal distribution of this technology to leave the Global South on the sidelines.
Public interest and digital sovereignty must prevail over corporate greed.
This is the spirit of the Leaders' Declaration on the Governance of Artificial Intelligence for Development that Brazil will propose during its presidency.
Sixth axe: Finally, increasing the institutionality of the BRICS is a step towards maturity.
Although the rapid expansion of the group in the last two years attests to our strategic value and is extremely positive, we have the challenge of making coordination more effective and agile.
We need to focus on working methods that make decisions more efficient and ensure that our actions have the greatest possible global impact.
In the same way, the Social Pillar is a guarantee that the seeds we plant will bear fruit in our societies.
It is not enough to bring leaders together every year if we are not able to listen to the desires of the population.
The engagement groups involving women entrepreneurs, business people, young people, parliamentarians, trade unions, academics, and civil society will have the full support of the Brazilian Presidency.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am confident that the BRICS will continue to be an engine of positive change for our nations and for the world.
Acting in coordination for the success of the South African G20 Presidency and the Brazilian COP30 Presidency is defending our shared future on this planet.
We will have an intense presidency, which will lead us to a beautiful Summit of Heads of State and Government in Rio de Janeiro.
We must live up to our chosen theme: “Strengthening Cooperation in the Global South for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance”.
Thank you very much and good luck to all BRICS members.