The Global South isn’t waiting for the West to save the planet

As the US grows isolationist and the EU turns inward, Brazil, India, South Africa, and China are stepping up on climate governance.

Of all the seismic geopolitical shifts in recent years, perhaps the most striking is the West’s rapid decline as a force in global climate governance. Under United States President Donald Trump’s second administration, the US has become more aggressive, and more isolationist. Meanwhile, the European Union has grown timid, fragmented, and inward-looking.

Will the Global South — especially Brazil, South Africa, India, and China — step up to fill the climate leadership vacuum?

In 1972, at the United Nations’ first major environmental conference in Stockholm, then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi famously declared, “Poverty is the worst form of pollution.” To this day, the Global South grapples with the challenge of pursuing sustainable development while promoting environmental responsibility. Many developing countries have long feared that climate policies might reinforce historical inequalities or constrain their growth. But now, the Global South has an opening to ensure that the international agenda reflects its priorities.

Many policymakers recognise the need for a change. While global co-operation has produced numerous important climate commitments, such as those made at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and those contained in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, they remain largely unfulfilled. Moreover, financial support from the rich world has been well below what is needed, hindering climate action in developing countries, eroding trust in Western leaders, and lowering global ambitions.

The Global South has no shortage of climate visionaries — from Wangari Maathai to Vandana Shiva to Chico Mendes — who have connected environmental protection with community empowerment. But the West has controlled the climate narrative for decades, because it dominates the science that informs the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the multilateral development banks that provide climate financing, and the global media outlets that shape public opinion.

That is particularly true for the US. Despite its stumbles, such as when then-President George W Bush withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, the rhetorical ambition of other US presidents, including Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, ensured the West remained a leading voice in shaping the climate agenda, even when not matched by action.

Trump’s resurgence has brought that era to an end. His administration has mocked climate science, propped up the fossil-fuel industry, and denounced the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (to say nothing of his destabilising trade war). The EU, weakened by the rise of the far-Right and preoccupied with bolstering its defences, lacks the political will, and has fallen short of providing the economic means to lead on international climate co-operation and finance.

This collapse has shattered the idea of a coherent ‘West’, if such a creature ever existed. But it could empower the Global South, which bears the brunt of climate shocks, to lead a more equitable and inclusive clean-energy transition. Despite short-term hurdles, in the long run, reducing fossil-fuel dependence — which is becoming more feasible now that renewables are more scalable and reliable — can help stabilise economies and improve public health.

Many Global South governments have already played key roles in shaping the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris climate agreement. China has also become the undisputed global leader in green tech, outpacing the West in the shift to renewables. Facing US trade barriers, China’s surplus of solar panels, batteries, and wind turbines could be redirected to developing countries, strengthening their energy sovereignty.

There are signs that Brazil, India, South Africa, and China are building on this foundation to forge a cohesive climate agenda ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, which is focused on collective action, or mutirão. In April, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and UN Secretary-General António Guterres brought together 17 heads of state from the Global South and the EU for a summit aimed at elevating countries’ climate ambitions in the lead-up to COP30.

Brazil has also leveraged its BRICS+ presidency to build momentum for COP30, creating a roadmap for expanding co-operation on energy security and establishing the BRICS Laboratory for Trade, Climate Change, and Sustainable Development. In early July, the BRICS+ Summit of presidents and heads of state approved a Leaders’ Framework Declaration on Climate Finance. Whether these initiatives will deliver tangible results remains uncertain, given BRICS+ countries’ divergent interests. For example, several members, such as Russia and the United Arab Emirates, are economically dependent on fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, South Africa is using its G20 presidency to amplify African voices and push for debt relief, green industrialisation, and low-cost finance — in other words, it is attempting to address the structural barriers that prevent vulnerable countries from investing in climate mitigation and adaptation. With the right financial and technological support, the green transition can drive broad-based prosperity in the developing world.

The costs of clean tech have plummeted, largely owing to China’s industrial capacity, making some of the material conditions for climate leadership in the Global South more favourable. Moreover, China could finance decarbonisation projects in other countries through renminbi loans, export credits, and debt-for-clean-energy swaps. If successful, BRICS+ members’ de-dollarisation efforts could overcome financial bottlenecks and reduce dependence on Western banks.

In today’s fragmented world, multilateralism remains essential, and South-South co-operation on agreed climate targets offers a powerful platform to help revitalise it. The Global South is also well-positioned to lead plurilateral initiatives that advance climate solutions. These coalitions of the willing are crucial for countering the Trump administration’s bullying tactics — namely, the use of trade negotiations to shift other governments’ investment priorities and weaken their green policies.

Of course, Western countries must be held accountable at COP30 for their historic emissions and unmet climate-finance promises. But the summit represents a vital opportunity for the Global South to demonstrate that climate and development goals are not mutually exclusive. To seize it, these countries’ leaders must subordinate their differences to their overriding interest in presenting a clear-eyed vision of an energy transition that uplifts their people and protects the planet.

Maiara Folly is Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Brazil-based think-tank Plataforma CIPÓ. Jayati Ghosh is Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Jörg Haas is Head of the Globalization and Transformation Division at the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2025.