BRICS leaders used the New Delhi Declaration to push back against carbon border adjustment mechanisms, calling them unilateral, punitive, and discriminatory. The group says these import duties on carbon-intensive goods undermine developing countries' efforts to adapt to climate change and build resilience. The statement specifically points to CBAMs as inconsistent with international law and protectionist. The affected export categories include iron and steel, cement, fertilizer, and aluminium, all heavy industry sectors with hard-to-abate emissions. This is not just a climate policy debate. It is also a trade dispute over who carries the cost of industrial decarbonization and how embedded emissions are measured. No alternative framework was announced in the declaration, so the key question is whether BRICS members will build their own carbon accounting rules or keep this at the diplomatic level.
