BRICS Leaders Agree on Joint Approach to Technology, Finance, and Global Challenges - CADE – Civil Society Alliances for Digital Empowerment

The article reports that leaders of the BRICS grouping met for their 17th summit in Rio de Janeiro on 6 July 2025 and adopted a declaration that puts artificial intelligence, digital transformation and technology governance at the center of their shared agenda. The summit's theme was Global South cooperation toward fairer, more sustainable governance, and the expanded bloc now represents eleven nations.

According to the article, the declaration followed months of talks that involved more than 200 meetings and contains 126 commitments spanning governance, finance, health and climate, and including AI for the first time. Three further agreements came out of the summit, one of them a separate leaders' declaration devoted to how AI should be governed worldwide.

On AI, the members acknowledged its power to drive growth and sustainable development, while calling for a governance framework that handles risks and guarantees developing countries fair access. They urged a collective global effort based on shared values, inclusiveness and transparency, and said future frameworks should address security and ethical risks while also narrowing the digital divide. The message was that governance must go beyond the interests of major technology powers and support capacity-building and knowledge-sharing. The leaders also sought reform of global financial institutions, including IMF quotas and World Bank voting shares, arguing current structures do not reflect the world economy.

The summit further endorsed the Tropical Forest Forever Fund ahead of COP30 in Brazil, launched a partnership to eliminate socially determined diseases, and reaffirmed commitment to stronger global health governance and pandemic preparedness. The leaders described a multipolar world built on peace and dialogue, and voiced concern about rising military spending and about tying security matters to climate policy.