Over the past year, the BRICS coalition—an alliance originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—has found itself at the heart of two global debates: the group’s quest to reduce dependence on the US dollar, and its increasingly prominent stance on climate action. Yet, as the group expands and its ambitions grow, experts caution that the path ahead is riddled with structural obstacles, conflicting interests, and a legacy of global systems that are not easily overturned.
On September 24, 2025, financial experts were blunt: despite bold aspirations, a unified BRICS currency remains an impossible dream for now. The timeline for any such launch is, at best, unclear. According to FGV professor Carla Beni, the US dollar’s dominance is no accident. "The dollar is still the international currency. Variations in its value have a direct effect on other countries. So no one will be able to replace it in the first place," she told reporters. Her point is hard to dispute. The dollar’s supremacy was cemented in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference, where over 40 nations agreed to anchor the global financial system around the US currency. Even after the gold standard was abandoned in 1971, the stability of American institutions and the depth of its financial markets kept the dollar firmly at the center of international commerce.
In 2025, the dollar did face some turbulence—the DXY index dropped about 10%—and recent US trade policies, including tariff increases under former President Trump, have nudged countries to consider alternatives. This has revived chatter about a BRICS currency, especially among member nations and their allies. But as Eco-Business and Carbon Brief report, the practicalities are daunting. The BRICS bloc, which now includes Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran (with Saudi Arabia invited), represents 27% of global GDP, nearly half the world’s population, and over half of global carbon emissions. Their diversity, however, is as much a weakness as a strength—coordinating monetary policy among such different economies is a logistical nightmare.
Professor Beni emphasizes that for any new currency to succeed, it must be backed by trust in economic and political stability, as well as a highly liquid, globally accepted financial market. "While it doesn’t need to repeat the 80 years it took the dollar to consolidate, the replacement would require a considerable period of adjustment and trust," she explained. China’s yuan, often touted as the strongest candidate for a BRICS currency, simply lacks the institutional framework and global market integration necessary to challenge the dollar’s hegemony. Russia’s economic isolation, meanwhile, adds further complexity to the bloc’s 2026 currency ambitions.
Central banks worldwide continue to hold large reserves of US dollars, cementing the greenback’s role as the go-to safe haven in times of instability. For investors, the prospect of a BRICS currency remains highly speculative, with little to suggest imminent change. As Eco-Business notes, the coordination challenges—spanning regulatory, economic, and political divides—keep the idea largely theoretical for now.
Yet, while monetary unity remains elusive, BRICS is making waves in another arena: climate diplomacy. Over the past twelve months, China has worked to raise its profile as a global partner—not just in economics and governance, but also in the fight against climate change. President Xi Jinping’s schedule has been packed with high-level meetings, from Moscow to Brussels, and in April 2025, he delivered his first major international climate speech in four years at a Brazil-hosted event on just transition. This move, according to Carbon Brief, signaled China’s ongoing commitment to climate action and its growing coordination with Brazil.
The expanded BRICS group now coordinates on a range of issues, from international finance to climate diplomacy. Four of its members—Brazil, China, India, and South Africa—also form the BASIC bloc, which has played a significant role at UN climate summits since 2009. At COP28 and COP29, BASIC tried to put trade measures like the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism on the agenda, but without success. Still, the group’s influence is growing. In February 2025, a BRICS proposal at the COP16 UN biodiversity negotiations laid the groundwork for a landmark agreement to mobilize at least US$200 billion annually to protect nature. As COP16 president Susana Muhamad told Reuters, "BRICS nations had been bridge builders in the negotiations. I understand there’s a lot of countries wanting to join BRICS, because…if you have to confront something like the US, you are not alone."
At a September 2025 event at Tsinghua University, COP30 executive director Ana Toni declared, "BRICS countries have realised that climate is not just a financial issue or a niche, but rather a pillar for prosperity, development and growth." In May, BRICS finance ministers agreed on a climate-finance framework, focusing on reforming development banks, scaling up concessional finance, and mobilizing private capital for the global south. The July BRICS summit saw leaders sign a declaration demanding "accessible, timely and affordable climate finance" for developing countries—a responsibility, they insisted, for developed nations under the Paris Agreement.
However, the declaration also acknowledged that fossil fuels will remain a key part of the energy mix for emerging and developing economies, a stance that some climate advocates say undermines the group’s climate commitments. As Jacobo Ocharan of Climate Action Network International put it, the inclusion of such language "undermines the positives" of BRICS’ statements on climate action. Still, the group’s climate diplomacy is gathering momentum. Brazil, currently presiding over BRICS and hosting COP30, has prioritized climate action across multiple forums, including the G20. Frequent meetings between Brazilian and Chinese officials have underscored deepening cooperation. In April, President Xi told a closed-door UN-Brazil gathering, "China’s actions to address climate change will not slow down," a statement widely seen as a clear sign of support for multilateralism and solidarity with Brazil.
Despite their shared interests, BRICS members are far from united on every issue. India and China, for instance, have clashed over emissions targets and trade measures, while Russia’s focus on fossil fuels complicates the bloc’s clean energy ambitions. Nevertheless, the group has made notable progress: as of 2024, non-fossil power—driven by renewable energy growth in China, India, and Brazil—accounts for 53% of BRICS’ installed electricity capacity, matching the global average. China’s dominance in clean-tech manufacturing is especially striking, with the country producing over 80% of global solar panels and 70% of electric vehicles. In 2024, half of China’s clean energy exports went to the global south, and these exports are projected to reduce global emissions by 1% over their lifetimes.
For many observers, the question now is whether BRICS—and China in particular—will step into a global climate leadership role, especially as the US’s engagement fluctuates. China’s climate envoy, Liu Zhenmin, downplayed such expectations, saying, "the calls are just the west giving us a ‘tall hat’." Still, the group’s growing influence in climate finance, diplomacy, and technology may speak louder than official statements. As Yixian Sun, associate professor at the University of Bath, told Carbon Brief, "On many issues...China doesn’t want to stand out by itself," preferring to move within coalitions like BRICS and BASIC.
As the world watches the upcoming COP30 in Brazil, the BRICS bloc stands at a crossroads. Its currency ambitions may be stymied by structural realities, but its climate diplomacy is gaining traction—albeit with plenty of caveats. Whether this patchwork coalition can truly challenge the old order, or simply reshape it in its own image, remains to be seen.