The expanded BRICS faces a pivotal moment for global climate leadership, and Brazil's 2025 presidency of the bloc offers a chance to build cross-sectoral coalitions to break through some of the most persistent deadlocks in global climate politics.

This dialogue brings together leaders from government, business, finance, and civil society to leverage the BRICS collective influence for climate solutions that deliver both ecological sustainability and economic development.

With its recent expansion, including major energy producers alongside renewable champions, BRICS now spans the full spectrum of transition challenges and opportunities. The dialogue aims to reimagine the future of climate action post-COP30 in Belém, seeking to mobilize the private sector throughout the BRICS alliance. The program is available below:

Welcome Remarks

09:00 AM

• Julia Dias Leite, CEO at the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI)
• André Clark, Senior Vice President for the Siemens Energy Hub in Latin America and General Manager of Siemens Energy Brazil
• Cintya Feitosa, Lead Specialist in International Strategies at The Climate and Society Institute (iCS)

 

Keynote Speech | "BRICS in Brazil and the road to COP30"

09:20 AM

 

Fireside Chat | “Mobilizing Finance and Private Sector Engagement for NDC Implementation within BRICS”

09:40 AM

• Luciana Costa, Director of Infrastructure, Energy Transition and Climate Change Division at the National Bank for Development (BNDES)
• Sergio Gusmão Suchodolski, Senior Fellow at CEBRI and Member of the Advisory Board of the Sustainable Amazon Foundation (FAS)

 

Panel 1 | “Energy Producers and Consumers: Managing Transitions in an Expanded BRICS”

10:10 AM

• Mariana Espécie, Special Advisor to the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy
• André Clark, Senior Vice President for the Siemens Energy Hub in Latin America and General Manager of Siemens Energy Brazil
• Liu Dehua, Director of the China-Brazil Center for Climate Change and Energy Technology Innovation at Tsinghua University
• Rafaela Guedes, Senior Fellow at CEBRI and International Consultant at APCO Worldwide

 

Flash Talk | “Diplomacy across Multiple Chessboards: Brazil on the BRICS Stage”

11:25 AM

• Matias Spektor, Senior Fellow at CEBRI and Full Professor and Founder of the School of International Relations at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV)

 

Panel 2 | “Digital Transformation for Sustainable Development in BRICS”

11:40 AM

• Danielle Ayres, Director of the Department of Information Security at the Institutional Security Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil
• Laudemar Gonçalves de Aguiar Neto, Secretary for Trade Promotion, Science, Technology, Innovation and Culture (SECIC) at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Caroline Ranzani, Director of Institutional Relations at Elea Data Centers

 

Panel 3 | “Achieving Food Security and Climate Resilience”

13:40 PM

• Helena Araújo, Head of Institutional and Government Affairs at BRF and Marfrig
• Gustavo de Carvalho, Senior Researcher at the African Governance and Diplomacy Programme of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA)
• Abderrazak Zraidi, President of the Brazil-Saudi Arabia Chamber of Commerce
• Alberto Pfeifer, Coordinator of the International Strategy Analysis Group of the Institute of International Relations at the University of São Paulo (USP)

 

Closing Panel | “BRICS & Cross-sectoral Coalitions toward Climate Action”

14:40 PM

• Izabella Teixeira, Member of CEBRI’s International Advisory Board and Former Brazilian Minister of Environment