BRICS Environment Ministers Back Ethiopia’s COP32 Presidency

Addis Ababa, August 25, 2026 (ENA) —BRICS Environment and Climate Ministers have expressed support for Ethiopia’s presidency of the 32nd UN Climate Change Conference (COP32).

The endorsement came in a Joint Ministerial Statement adopted at the 12th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi on August 18, held under India’s 2026 BRICS Chairship.

During the meeting, the Ethiopian delegation highlighted the country’s Green Legacy Initiative and its efforts to advance environmental protection, climate resilience and sustainable development.

In its social media post, Ethiopian Embassy in New Delhi, India, said the endorsement reinforced the country’s growing role in shaping the global climate agenda.

Ethiopia also presented progress in forest development, land restoration and sustainable land management as it prepares to assume the COP32 presidency.

The support from BRICS countries adds diplomatic weight to Ethiopia’s upcoming leadership of the global climate process, while placing the country’s environmental initiatives within a broader framework of international cooperation.

The meeting brought together environment and climate ministers and senior representatives from BRICS member states to advance cooperation on shared environmental challenges.

 

Discussions focused on four key areas including  sustainable lifestyles; afforestation, forest-fire management and disaster resilience; the circular economy; and climate adaptation.

The ministers adopted the Joint Ministerial Statement by consensus and launched four knowledge compendiums developed under the BRICS Environment Working Group.

The outcome documents address sustainable lifestyles and integrated landscape management to combat desertification, strengthen sustainable land management and improve ecosystem resilience.

They also cover forest-fire preparedness and response, as well as people-centered and community-based approaches to climate adaptation that draw on traditional knowledge.

Held under India’s overarching BRICS theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” the meeting underscored the bloc’s efforts to deepen environmental and climate cooperation through knowledge sharing, innovation and capacity building.

For Ethiopia, the BRICS backing comes at a strategically important moment as it prepares to take the helm of COP32 and place Africa’s climate priorities, resilience needs and development aspirations more prominently on the global agenda, it was learned.