GLOBAL SOUTH REIMAGINED

In an increasingly fractured world marked by unilateralism and weakened climate cooperation, civil society must elevate Global South cohesion as a top climate agenda

- AVANTIKA GOSWAMI NEW DELHI

WITH THE latest round of punitive tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced he would engage with leaders of BRICS—a grouping of 11 full-time member-states including India—to address the dismantling of multilateralism by the US. It was a rare proactive moment from the bloc but one that should be far more common. Civil society must amplify shared struggles to foster Global South unity, empowering BRICS and other developing countries to lead the fight against climate change.

Countries of the Global South— often grouped under G77, a coalition of developing countries—share histories of colonialism, underdevelopment and unequal global governance. Despite internal differences, moments of unity have sparked crucial political change.

The 1955 Bandung Conference stands as a foundational example, bringing Southern countries together to oppose colonialism and affirm nonalignment. Decades later, at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, developing countries embedded the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities at the heart of the newly formed UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). During the cov-ID-19 crisis, Global South power reemerged, with India and South Africa leading a waiver call for Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) at the World Trade Organization and Cuba dispatching doctors worldwide. At the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to UNFCCC in Egypt, G77 united to secure a Loss and Damage Fund—culminating a 30-year effort led by island states.