Brazil in the G20: a guide for Model G20 delegates

Brazil is one of the 19 countries in the G20, alongside the European Union and the African Union. It led the G20 in 2024, putting hunger, climate and the reform of global institutions at the top of the agenda. In 2026 it is in the middle of a presidential election. This guide reflects official sources and news reports as of mid-October 2026.

At a glance

• System: a federal republic with its capital in Brasília, whose president is head of state and head of government for a four-year term (Constitution, 2022 English edition).
• Leader: President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, seeking re-election in 2026.
• Election: in the first round on 4 October 2026, Flávio Bolsonaro took 47.03 percent of valid votes and Lula 45.16 percent, according to Agência Brasil. The runoff is on 25 October 2026.
• People and economy: about 213 million people (IBGE estimate, July 2025) and GDP of about US$2.28 trillion (World Bank, 2025).
• G20 record: chaired the finance ministers' G20 in 2008 and held the presidency in 2024, with the leaders' summit in Rio de Janeiro on 18 to 19 November 2024.

Brazil's G20 story

Brazil chaired the G20 in 2008, when it was still a forum for finance ministers. Meeting in São Paulo that November, ministers "thanked our Brazilian hosts for chairing the G20 this year".

Its 2024 presidency ran under the motto "Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet". Brazil's concept note cited Lula's argument that if global challenges had to be summed up "in a single word, it would be inequality." The Rio declaration lists three priorities: "(i) social inclusion and the fight against hunger and poverty; (ii) sustainable development, energy transitions and climate action; and (iii) the reform of global governance institutions." The main outcomes were:

• The Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, which leaders "launched" and invited all countries to join. It backs "country-led, country-owned" programmes by mobilising finance and sharing knowledge.
• A climate task force, TF-CLIMA, "bringing together the Sherpa and Finance tracks".
• Voluntary principles on bioeconomy and on just and inclusive energy transitions.
• A more open G20: a foreign ministers' meeting at UN headquarters, "the first G20 meeting open to all United Nations Members", and a G20 Social Summit for non-government groups.

Argentina signed the Rio declaration while, as the Buenos Aires Times reported, "partially dissociating itself from all the content linked to" the UN's 2030 Agenda. No second Brazilian presidency has been announced.

What Brazil wants from the G20

These are Brazil's positions as set out in 2024, from its own documents and the Rio text agreed under its presidency. Other members disagree with some of them.

• Reformed institutions. Brazil's concept note says many international bodies "reflect a global reality that no longer exists". The Rio text calls for "an enlarged Security Council composition" and stresses the urgency of a "realignment in quota shares" at the IMF.
• Taxing the very rich. Brazil's presidency commissioned a report by Gabriel Zucman, which proposed that people with more than $1 billion pay at least 2 percent of their wealth a year. The Rio text names no rate: "With full respect to tax sovereignty, we will seek to engage cooperatively to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed." The Associated Press reported that the US was against Brazil's proposal.
• Climate and forests. Brazil's NDC (its climate pledge) aims to cut net emissions by "59 to 67 percent below 2005 levels by 2035" and cites "common but differentiated responsibilities". The government reports that Amazon deforestation rates fell 30.6 percent in 2024. Brazil proposed the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, which "pays countries that keep their forests standing" and was launched in Belém in November 2025.
• Fair trade rules. A trading system "with the WTO at its core", and climate measures, "including unilateral ones", that do not become "a disguised restriction on international trade".
• Debt. The Rio text commits to "stepping up the Common Framework's implementation".

Alliances and groupings

• BRICS: Brazil hosted the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro in July 2025. India's foreign ministry (MEA) also lists IBSA and the G4 among the groups where India and Brazil "enjoy excellent cooperation".
• Mercosur: established in 1991, it includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The EU and Mercosur signed their agreements on 17 January 2026, and ratification is under way.
• The G7: not a member. Lula attended the 2023 Hiroshima summit as a guest leader.
• The Amazon: in August 2023 Brazil hosted an Amazon Summit of the eight Amazon Cooperation Treaty countries.

Brazil and India

India and Brazil became strategic partners in 2006, and sat together with Indonesia in the G20 troika (the previous, current and next presidencies) during India's 2023 presidency. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a State Visit to Brasília in July 2025, and Lula made a State visit to India on 18 to 22 February 2026, when 11 agreements and MOUs were signed, including on rare earths and critical minerals.

• Trade: USD 15.21 billion in 2025, up more than 25 percent on 2024 (MEA, July 2026). India sells diesel, agro-chemicals and pharmaceuticals; Brazil sells crude oil, soybean oil, gold and raw sugar.
• Investment: Indian investment in Brazil is estimated at more than USD 15 billion (MEA, July 2026).
• Energy: Brazil co-founded the Global Biofuel Alliance, launched at the New Delhi G20 summit in September 2023.

Reports of the new trade target differ: All India Radio quoted an Indian official on a target of "30 billion dollars by 2030", while Modi spoke of taking trade "beyond $20 billion in the next five years".

Recent developments

• 7 May 2026: Lula met President Donald Trump at the White House, and both described the meeting positively.
• 15 July 2026: the US Trade Representative announced a 25 percent tariff on most imports from Brazil, citing practices from digital trade to "illegal deforestation", and said "we remain open to continuing negotiations with Brazil".
• July 2026: Brazil said it would invoke its Reciprocity Law and asked the WTO for dispute consultations, calling the US duties inconsistent with GATT 1994. The dispute is not settled.
• US presidency meetings: official lists show Brazil at meetings under the US presidency, including the first sherpa meeting (December 2025) and the Houston energy ministerial (September 2026).

Representing Brazil at a Model G20

• Speak for the government, not a candidate. Do not predict the runoff. A new term starts on 5 January, so the current government should still be in office for the Miami summit in December, though attendance is unconfirmed.
• Likely allies. India, with which Brazil cooperates in IBSA and BRICS, on reforming the UN and the IMF; developing countries and the African Union on hunger and debt; the EU on the Mercosur agreements.
• Likely red lines. Unilateral trade measures, climate rules that act as "a disguised restriction on international trade", and climate demands that ignore "common but differentiated responsibilities".
• Bridge to 2026. The US presidency stresses deregulation, energy and new technology. We found no stated Brazilian position on them, so seek common ground, for example by presenting biofuels and renewables as energy security.
• Phrase demands as compromises. The Rio tax wording, which begins "With full respect to tax sovereignty", keeps Brazil's goal while respecting others' red lines. Never claim the G20 agreed a 2 percent tax on billionaires.
• Lean on your record. Present the Alliance as a platform any country can join, and quote the Rio declaration (2024), Brazil's G20 concept note, its NDC (November 2024) and the MEA's brief on India-Brazil relations (July 2026).

What to do next

Turn this into a brief with how to write a Model G20 position paper, and see how such texts are negotiated in how a G20 leaders' declaration is agreed. Then read the G20 Sherpa Track and Finance Track explained and the 2026 G20 presidency explained.

Model G20 is One Young India's simulation of the G20 summit for students, held as a three-day residential summit at FLAME University.