UN Secretary-General António Guterres on July 7 warned that the environment is being attacked on all fronts and called on the international community to urgently tackle the intersection of health and climate issues.

The UN News Center reports that speaking at the 17th BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Mr. Guterres emphasized the human impact of environmental devastation and climate change.  And as environmental disasters increase, the sustainable development goals are also being left behind.  

"Across the world, lives and livelihoods are being ripped apart, and sustainable development gains left in tatters as disasters accelerate," said the UN chief.  "The impact on human health is atrocious...the vulnerable and the poorer pay the highest price."

Meanwhile, BRICS’s official website says that at the 17th high-level leaders' meeting, BRICS adopted 126 commitments covering global governance, finance, health, artificial intelligence, climate change, and other strategic areas.

In preparation for COP30—also under Brazilian leadership in November—the countries reportedly recognized the Tropical Forest Forever Fund (TFFF) as an innovative mechanism to mobilize long-term financing for tropical forest conservation, encouraging ambitious donations from potential partners.

"Our Climate Framework Declaration charts a roadmap for the next five years to transform our capacity to raise resources for fighting climate change.  With the collective scale of the BRICS, we will combat the climate crisis while make our economies stronger and fairer,” the document states.

BRICS was founded by Brazil, Russia, India and China in 2006.  South Africa joined in 2011 and Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined the group since. Collectively, these eleven States represent over half of the world’s population and approximately one-third of the world's GDP.