THE AMAZON GAVEL: Brazil Hands BRICS Leadership to India (2026)

Introduction: A Turning Point for the Global South

The world is entering a period of historic reconfiguration of the international economic system. On December 12, 2025, Brazil formally handed the BRICS chairmanship to India—an event unfolding amid growing Western pressure and renewed efforts to build financial and trade alternatives to dollar-centric infrastructure. For B2B trade participants, exporters, and platforms operating across BRICS+, the transition opens major opportunities while introducing new operational and geopolitical risks.

Part 1. Why the Handover Matters

1.1 The symbolism of the Amazon gavel

At the 4th BRICS Sherpas Meeting in Brasília, Ambassador Mauricio Lyrio (Brazil) passed the gavel to Ambassador Sudhakar Dalela (India). The object itself is a message. It was made from recycled wood from the Amazon rainforest, reportedly including itaúba (Handroanthus crassifolius), pau rainha (pau d’arco), and jaqueira (Theobroma speciosum) from the community of Novo Airão in Amazonas state. Brazil’s framing: the gavel represents both resilience and the deep roots of cooperation uniting the group—linking the presidency transition to sustainability and environmental responsibility.

1.2 BRICS expansion: from five to eleven members

BRICS has expanded beyond its original five. The 2025 full members listed in the brief are: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia. The brief also lists BRICS+ partner countries (13+): Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan.

Aggregate weight cited: more than 3.5 billion people (about 43% of global population), roughly $27 trillion nominal GDP (about 29.8% of global), and roughly $53 trillion GDP (PPP) (about 58.6% of global). The message is clear: an expanded BRICS increases geopolitical reach, but also increases heterogeneity—and therefore coordination costs.

Part 2. What Brazil Delivered in 2025

Brazil chaired BRICS under the motto: “Strengthening South–South Cooperation and Consensus-Building for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Global Governance.” The brief groups achievements into political outcomes, financial initiatives, and social/regional programs.

2.1 Political outcomes

• Rio Declaration: positioned as a large-scale document on inclusive governance, signed by leaders of all 11 members, with commitments across climate, finance, and technology.
• BRICS Leaders’ Declaration on Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence: a signal that BRICS wants a say in AI governance, reflecting developing-country needs and concerns about Western tech monopolies.
• Framework Declaration on Climate Finance: positioned as the first BRICS climate finance framework, emphasizing mobilization of climate finance beyond $100 billion and a stronger focus on adaptation (not only mitigation).

2.2 Financial initiatives

• Multilateral Guarantee Mechanism within the New Development Bank (NDB), aimed at guaranteeing investments in developing countries.
• BRICS Pay (testing phase): described as a local-currency payment tool, with a proposed structure of 40% gold + 60% BRICS+ currencies, targeting B2B trade; expected rollout 2026–2027.
• NDB expansion: more offices/branches, increased financing capacity, and work on a reserve asset.

2.3 Social and regional programs

• BRICS Partnership for Addressing Socially Determined Diseases: health cooperation focused on diseases linked to socioeconomic conditions.
• Regional cooperation initiatives: strengthening BIMSTEC (South Asia), advancing East African cooperation, and building Mercosur–BRICS interaction.

2.4 Quantitative indicators (as cited)

• 126 commitments across cooperation tracks.
• 200+ official meetings at various levels.
• 200+ new mechanisms created for cooperation.
• 60+ thematic working groups operating under BRICS.

Part 3. India’s BRICS Presidency 2026: Four Pillars + ‘Humanity-First’

India’s vision is structured around four pillars and a ‘Humanity-First Approach.’ The brief highlights India’s intent to decentralize BRICS engagement—hosting meetings not only in elite capitals but across regions and cities—making BRICS more inclusive and economically grounded.

3.1 Pillar 1: Resilience

Definition (in BRICS context): the capacity of the global system to recover quickly from economic, geopolitical, and environmental shocks.

• Financial sovereignty: reducing dependency on SWIFT, building payment interfaces, and creating reserve assets in local currencies.
• Energy security: diversified supplies, renewables, and strategic oil and gas reserves.
• Economic stability: macro-policy coordination, protection from currency speculation, and trade agreements without third-party mediation.
• Supply chain resilience: localization of critical components, diversified raw material sources, regional logistics hubs.

3.2 Pillar 2: Innovation

Definition: producing and distributing technological solutions accessible to all BRICS members—especially developing countries.

• Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) as a Global South model: India’s UPI and Aadhaar are presented as reusable templates to democratize access to digital finance.
• AI governance: an alternative to Western regulatory approaches; building domestic AI models and ethical standards aligned with developing-country needs.
• Critical minerals technology: cooperation on extraction and processing of rare earths; batteries and storage; reducing single-country dependency.
• Alternative currency systems and CBDC: exploring a BRICS reserve currency and interoperability across national CBDCs without external control.

3.3 Pillar 3: Cooperation

Definition: deeper integration of economies, culture, and governance subsystems.

• South–South cooperation: growing intra-BRICS trade, technology transfer, and joint infrastructure; the brief references a target of +30–50% growth during 2026.
• Regional integration: BIMSTEC, East African Community expansion, Mercosur–BRICS interaction, ASEAN–BRICS dialogue.
• Trade facilitation: customs harmonization, mutual certification recognition, e-commerce infrastructure; cited impact: reducing customs clearance time from 5–7 days to 1–2 days.
• Cultural & human exchange: 100+ meetings across ~60 cities; engaging youth, scientists, entrepreneurs; exchange and internship programs.

3.4 Pillar 4: Sustainability

Definition: long-term development without harming the environment and future generations.

• Climate finance: mobilization beyond $100 billion annually; fair distribution; stronger adaptation focus; financing sustainable development in LDCs.
• Tropical Forest Forever Fund: created under Brazil and continued under India; preserving Amazon, Congo forests, and India’s tropical forests; compensating countries for conservation.
• Green energy transition: renewables cooperation—solar (India), wind, hydro.
• Environmental resilience: biodiversity, disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, water management.

Part 4. BRICS Economic Weight in the Global System

4.1 BRICS vs G7 (as cited)

• Nominal GDP share: BRICS ~29.8% vs G7 ~44.0% (gap 14.2 percentage points).
• GDP (PPP) share: BRICS ~58.6% vs G7 ~30.0% (BRICS about twice).

The brief stresses that PPP weight reflects purchasing power, while nominal figures are depressed by weaker currencies (ruble, rupee, real), reducing apparent weight in USD terms.

4.2 Resource position (as cited)

• Oil & gas: the brief asserts BRICS controls 35%+ of global reserves, citing large shares for Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.
• Rare earths: the brief cites China’s dominance and suggests BRICS has a near-monopoly position.
• Agriculture: the brief asserts BRICS controls 55%+ of global agricultural exports, with major shares from Brazil, India, and Russia.

Part 5. Challenges India Will Face in 2026

5.1 Balancing interests inside an expanded BRICS

The brief emphasizes that BRICS is no longer homogeneous. It lists friction points: India–China border tensions and Asian leadership rivalry; Saudi Arabia–Iran competition; Egypt–Ethiopia disputes; and differing positions on major conflicts—creating slower consensus-building.

5.2 FX volatility as a constraint for BRICS Pay

A key practical issue for BRICS Pay and alternative currency systems is currency instability. The brief cites 2024–2025 moves (example figures): ruble -40% vs USD, rupee -8%, real -12%, rand -15%. The proposed mitigation mentioned: 40% gold + 60% currency basket, but volatility remains a challenge for real trade invoicing and settlement.

5.3 Sanctions and tariff risk from the United States

The brief states that the Trump administration has threatened sanctions against countries attempting to reduce the role of the US dollar, including potential tariffs (25%) and pressure on payment networks. It argues that such threats can slow adoption of BRICS Pay and discourage countries dependent on USD settlement.

5.4 Expansion slows decision-making

More members and partners create more voices, slower procedures, and a risk of diluted influence. The brief illustrates this with a negotiation-intensive summit example, suggesting that consensus-building may become slower after expansion.

5.5 Divergent visions of the future

The brief notes different strategic postures: Brazil more cautious reformism; India ambitious; China strategic; Russia focused on de-globalization; others less clearly positioned—complicating unified action.

Part 6. Opportunities for B2B Trade and Platforms Like B2BRICS

6.1 Decentralized meeting calendar: 60-city entry points

India’s plan for 100+ meetings in ~60 cities expands business touchpoints beyond Delhi. The brief suggests platforms can use this to run regional supplier forums and create localized pipelines for exporters and importers.

6.2 Payment interoperability: UPI, SPFS, CIPS, Pix

The brief frames BRICS Pay as an interoperability project connecting national rails such as UPI (India), SPFS (Russia), CIPS (China), and Pix (Brazil). For B2B platforms, the promise is lower fees (from ~2–3% down to ~0.1–0.5% as cited) and faster settlement—if compliance and liquidity issues are handled.

6.3 Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) as platform infrastructure

DPI is positioned as the foundation for trust and scale: unified identity, digital payments, and data exchange. The brief suggests using Aadhaar + UPI patterns for faster verification of Indian counterparties, with similar systems potentially emerging across BRICS.

6.4 Climate finance → green trade

Climate finance initiatives (including the Tropical Forest Forever Fund) are framed as creating new B2B markets: sustainable project finance, carbon credits, green technology exports, and sustainable supply chains. Platforms can launch dedicated “Green Trade” segments to connect suppliers and buyers.

6.5 Trade corridors

The brief points to corridor logic: BIMSTEC (South Asia), an East African corridor, and Mercosur–BRICS linkages. For marketplaces, the playbook is corridor-specific positioning, localized support, and category-focused sourcing.

Conclusion: A Historic Moment for the Global Economy

The December 12, 2025 handover is presented not as routine administration but as a marker of deeper global economic rebalancing. The Amazon gavel symbolizes that this rebalancing should be anchored in sustainability, fairness, and inclusion. India’s 2026 presidency will be a decisive period for whether the Global South can build practical alternatives in payments, trade facilitation, and institutional reform. For B2B trade actors, the message is dual: large new opportunities—paired with the need to adapt to new payment rails, corridors, and geopolitical realities.