Leaders of the growing BRICS group of developing nations were set to gather in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, calling for reform of traditional Western institutions while presenting the bloc as a defender of multilateralism in an increasingly fractured world.

As BRICS leaders meet in Rio, the growing bloc seeks to push for global reform, climate action, and economic cooperation, despite internal differences and global tensions.

Rio de Janeiro is rolling out one of its largest peacetime security operations in recent memory as leaders and senior officials from the Global South’s major emerging economies convene in the coastal city for this week’s Brics summit.