President Cyril Ramaphosa: Environment, COP30 and Global Health, 17th BRICS Leaders' Summit

Your Excellency, President Lula da Silva,
Leaders of BRICS member countries,
Leaders of BRICS Partner and Outreach countries,
Leaders of global and regional institutions,
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

This moment in history is defined by the intersection of economic reform, geopolitical realignment and the deepening climate crisis.

Brazil’s leadership of BRICS and COP30 together with South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 provides an opportunity to send a strong signal of unity and solidarity in support of the rights and interests of developing economy countries.

Our concurrent leadership of these bodies must emphasise the pressing need to close the Sustainable Development Goals implementation gap and the climate ambition gap, and ensure that just transitions pathways leave no one behind.

BRICS is a key platform to shape a new paradigm of multilateral cooperation anchored in equity, sustainability and development.

We must use our institutions to drive climate-resilient development across Africa and the Global South.

We must also use our collective voice to advance reforms to modernise multilateral development bank mandates and to better reflect the voices and priorities of developing economies.

We need to unlock scaled-up concessional finance for climate action.

This is important to catalyse investments in early warning systems, resilient infrastructure, community-led adaptation and people-centred just transition pathways.

At the same time, we need to drive the global health agenda towards inclusive, equitable, innovative and sustainable health solutions.

Global health financing is being severely impacted by the substantial and sudden withdrawals of official development assistance.

Many of the programmes that were supported through this assistance were for disease elimination and targeted towards the most vulnerable populations, like young women and girls, children and adolescents.

As countries, we have made great strides towards the elimination of TB, Malaria and HIV through the support of organisations such as the Global Fund.

But these gains are being threatened by waning political attention and reduced financing.

As the co-host of the Global Fund’s 8th replenishment campaign together with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, I call on countries, businesses and the wider donor community to make a contribution to the fund in the interests of global health security.

I also call on all previous investors to match or increase their previous pledges

If we achieve the target of 18 billion US dollars for the 2027 to 2029 cycle, it is estimated that the Global Fund can save 23 million lives, reduce the combined mortality rate by another 64 percent relative to 2023 levels, and prevent around 400 million infections.

Investing in the Global Fund is also an investment in health system strengthening and universal health care, especially for vulnerable countries in the Global South.

As we confront these and other development challenges, BRICS needs to be at the forefront of a new inclusive multilateralism.

Let us use our growing voice to advance a global order that improves the lives of all the world’s people and safeguards the planet for future generations.

I thank you.

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