The Role of the BRICS in the climate change regime

Abstract: The overall aim of this research is to examine the BRICS’ leadership, arguments, and positions in three of the UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties 2009-2022 and highlight the role BRICS have played in the final declarations at these climate summits. When the United Nations Framework on Climate Change was created and entered into force in 1994, developed countries of the West were assigned leadership for the transition to a more sustainable world, but this leadership has become increasingly fragmented in recent years and the leadership in the climate change regime appears unclear. Therefore, I wanted to investigate how the large developing economies in the BRICS group acted during this time and whether they exercised leadership in the climate regime. This research project was based on a content analysis of documents from the BRICS Summits and the UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties in Copenhagen 2009, Paris 2015 and Sharm el-Sheikh 2022. My findings show that BRICS has been quite consistent in their issues during the period and pursued issues of support to developing countries. My investigation does not show that the group has taken clear leadership in the climate regime, but rather that they have succeeded in influencing the agenda and incorporating many of their ideas through directional leadership.