Policy paper

UK–Brazil Strategic Partnership 2026 to 2030

Published 26 March 2026

A 200-year partnership

1. Brazil and the UK share a dynamic and modern relationship, firmly built on shared democratic values. Brazil and the UK first established diplomatic relations over 200 years ago, with historic ties dating back to Brazil’s independence.

2. With this Partnership the UK and Brazil are elevating the bilateral relationship to the status of a Strategic Partnership to reflect the step change to a higher-ambition and longer-term partnership. 

2030 vision

3. Brazil and the UK share a vision for revitalised and dynamic connections between our peoples including in science, technology and innovation; increased trade and investment including through green and inclusive growth; the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss, and the promotion of sustainable development, clean energy and health; enhanced political dialogue; and defence and security cooperation for a more just, equitable and peaceful world.

4. Brazil and the UK are vibrant and multi-ethnic democracies, which share a deep commitment to international law, and multilateralism, to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to universal human rights. We are determined to build trust and find the common ground needed to tackle inequality, eradicate poverty, fight against hunger and unlock global problems. 

5. We will review progress against this Partnership document in the Annual Strategic Dialogue between the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federative Republic of Brazil (hereafter Foreign Minister) and the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom (hereafter Foreign Secretary). Ministers can invite guest ministers as agreed by both sides. 

6. The UK-Brazil Strategic Partnership 2026 to 2030 will be structured around 5 pillars:

I) Political dialogue and international cooperation

II) Trade and investment

III) Security and defence

IV) Just transition and sustainable development

V) People-to-people links

I. Political dialogue and international cooperation

7. Our deeply held commitment to upholding the UN Charter and an open, stable and secure international order will underpin greater cooperation to drive reforms that rebuild trust in the multilateral system, building understanding among diverse partners, defending international law, and ensuring the system delivers for developing and developed countries, and promoting peace and sustainability. To this end, we will establish a new UK-Brazil Multilateral Dialogue, to share information, exchange views and coordinate strategies to improve multilateralism, including at senior officials and operational levels.

8. We will:

a. actively engage with other stakeholders to seek to promote progress on the process of Security Council reform.

b. build support for the expansion of the UNSC in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership, in order to make the UN Security Council more representative and more effective.

c. continue to support Brazil’s aspiration to become a permanent member on a reformed UNSC.

d. work together to protect civilians, support peacebuilding efforts, dialogue and peaceful solutions to conflicts, and promote international peace and security under the UN Charter, and will continue to prioritise the agenda of Women, Peace and Security.

e. recognise that the SDGs are significantly behind schedule in implementation and that the international financial system is not delivering as it needs to. We will cooperate to build a better, fairer, more representative and more effective international financial system in support of the SDGs.

f. strengthen cooperation between developed and developing countries on climate and nature ambition, including supporting delivery against existing climate financing commitments to meet the pledge of at least $ 300 billion annually, with developed countries taking the lead, and to enable the scaling up of financing to developing countries of at least $1.3 trillion from all public and private sources per year by 2035.

g. help set global rules and norms for artificial intelligence, cyber-security and space.

h. help build greater consensus on global health and pandemic preparedness.

9. We will establish a new Development Dialogue to drive action and share perspectives. In the first instance we will:

a. work together to expand and implement the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty launched by Brazil’s presidency at the G20 Summit in November 2024 in Rio de Janeiro to drive international action, building on our long-standing shared leadership in this area, which started with the UK and Brazil co-hosting the first Hunger Summit in London in 2012. This will include promoting the critical use of social protection, drawing on Brazil’s historic strengths in this area.

b. expand the trilateral cooperation between Brazil, the UK and countries in Africa as well as throughout the Global South on sustainable development, considering different potential synergy areas including agri-food systems transformation smallholders and family farmers, food security and nutrition.

10. We will deepen cooperation on global health, promote technology transfer to the mutual advantage of producers and users, and building on the excellent partnership during Covid-19, including on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPPR) and vaccine development, genomic sequencing, anti-microbial resistance, and local production of medical products.

11. In the area of international peace and security, we will:

a. work together to promote dialogue and seek peaceful solutions to crises.

b. reaffirm the importance of strengthening the implementation of relevant disarmament and non-proliferation instruments, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and Chemical Weapons Convention.

II. Trade and investment

12. The Brazil-UK Strategic Partnership 2026 to 2030 aims to create good, green jobs and mutually beneficial, sustainable and inclusive growth. We commit to enhance trade and investment, to promote the productive integration between Brazil and the UK, including in high value added and strategic value chains, and, in this context, to contribute to global supply chain resilience and diversification. We will facilitate greater trade between the UK and Brazil in priority sectors, including by mobilising up to £5.4 billion of UK government-backed guarantees provided by UK Export Finance and continuing our collective efforts to remove priority barriers to trade.

13. We agree to work towards more diversified and robust trade and investment flows. We will revitalise the Minister-level Brazil-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) to raise the level of ambition for our future trade relationship. Reducing/removing barriers to trade and investment faced by Brazilian businesses in the UK and UK businesses in Brazil will be an early priority.

14. We will also increase investment by encouraging UK and Brazilian companies to invest in each other’s economies to drive sustainable growth and support good, green jobs, in particular in infrastructure, health, digital and technology, bioeconomy products, energy, industrial transformation, decarbonisation and tourism.  

15. We will strengthen our bilateral economic cooperation under the minister-led Economic and Financial Dialogue, progressing cooperation in areas of mutual interest such as reinforcing multilateralism and mobilizing resources to achieve the SDGs, as well as climate and nature goals, economic resilience, stepping up collaboration on strengthening Multilateral Development Banks, and fostering formal engagement between our financial sectors on green and sustainable finance, innovative financial services and infrastructure investments to share expertise and deepen collaboration.

16. We will work together to champion free and fair trade, and strengthen our cooperation on multilateral trade issues at the WTO and other multilateral fora, to deliver a rules-based international trading system that is fully fit for purpose.

III. Security and defence

17. We will build a common understanding and long-term ties across our shared interests, looking for new opportunities to collaborate across key security and defence issues.

18. We will strengthen cooperation to counter organised crime, including drug trafficking, cyber-crime and illicit financial flows, as well as crimes that affect the environment. The UK will continue to support Brazil’s capacity building efforts to help implement its cybersecurity strategies and policies. We will look for new opportunities to expand collaboration in support of other priority organised crime threats.

a. We will work to enhance the exchange of information between our respective law enforcement agencies. A shared cooperation framework would benefit the existing partnership in this field supporting investigations, training, education and other forms of collaboration.

19. The UK and Brazil reaffirm their commitment to jointly combat human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants and the organised criminal activities associated with it. The Parties will cooperate to prevent the facilitation of such crimes through coordinated efforts aimed at addressing their root causes and dismantling the networks and individuals responsible for their perpetration.

20. The UK and Brazil reaffirm their commitment to jointly promote safe, regular and orderly migration, and will support each other in promoting compliance by their nationals with the entry and migration requirements of the other. In pursuit of these objectives, the Parties will exchange relevant data and intelligence, subject to their respective national laws and international obligations, to enhance law enforcement and judicial cooperation.

21. In the area of our defence partnership, we will implement and expand the Defence Capability Collaboration Arrangement (DCCA), signed in February 2024 and linked to the 2010 umbrella UK-Brazil Defence Cooperation Agreement, to deepen our strategic engagement, industrial partnership and technology transfer. We will provide direction to this partnership through regular contact, including the Brazil-UK Political and Military Dialogue (2+2).

22. We will expand our defence cooperation to take a long-term view to deliver for both countries. As part of this we will:

a. increase cooperation and access to training opportunities.

b. use the DCCA to increase cooperation on defence technology and industrial capabilities.

c. strengthen space cooperation for peaceful purposes in all areas of mutual interest.

d. conduct Joint Services exercises and seek opportunities to further military exchanges.

e. use the DCCA to increase defence collaboration on research, innovation and technology.

f. identify opportunities to build on the Open-Source White Shipping Agreement.

g. increase collaboration and cooperation in defence education and doctrine development.

IV. Just transition and sustainable development

23. The UK and Brazil will commit to advance a just transition that ensures no one is left behind, particularly the most vulnerable and those in poverty. We recognize that the shift to low-carbon and climate-resilient economies must be inclusive, equitable and aligned with sustainable development goals.

24. Brazil and the UK commit to addressing the global climate, nature and environmental crisis, fulfilling the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs and building a more sustainable, just and inclusive future together, including by driving the partnership between public and private sectors required to achieve this. We will ensure progress is maintained from our respective Presidencies (COP26/30), jointly working for ambition and mobilisation of means of implementation – including enabling technology transfer and facilitating capacity-building and climate and nature finance from all public and private sources, noting the global effort and role of developed and developing countries as outlined in the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), including where developed countries continue to take the lead; also in the new round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) aligned with the Paris Agreement temperature goal of 1.5C, just transition plans and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs). We will further support the global commitment to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, to ensure the sustainable use of biodiversity and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources, through the goals and targets of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including financial resources, capacity-building, technical and scientific cooperation, and access to and transfer of technology.

25. We will elevate the UK-Brazil Green and Inclusive Growth Partnership as part of this Strategic Partnership and take a long-term view to delivering increased cooperation:

a. on climate governance, we will work together to implement ambitious NDCs, adaptation and just transition strategies, including for the protection of forests, oceans and coastal zones, climate, nature and health, Net Zero goals and targets, and a COP-to-COP exchange, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) mandate.

b. on forests and biodiversity, we will foster biodiversity goals, encouraging innovative schemes, including payment for ecosystem services and benefit-sharing mechanisms, with environmental and social safeguards, combat deforestation, tackling illegal gold supply chains, promoting socio-bioeconomy and non-timber products, and promote the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities and stimulating their participation in natural resource management.

c. we will work together towards the timely full establishment and capitalisation of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) from all sources, including unlocking investment from the private sector and a range of other partners, so that it can start its operations as early as possible.

d. we will work together to ensure food security, reduce the vulnerability of agriculture to climate change and promote sustainable and inclusive agricultural development, trade and supply chains while protecting forests and other critical ecosystems. We will pursue mutually supportive trade and environment policies in line with relevant multilateral agreements.

e. we will work to promote the bioeconomy and create conditions to ensure that the potential of the bioeconomy can be fully seized.

f. on tackling plastic pollution, by strengthening bilateral cooperation in the improvement of waste management capacities and infrastructure while securing a just transition for waste pickers.

g. on energy transition and industry decarbonisation we will collaborate on the Global Clean Power Alliance (GCPA), promote a just and inclusive energy transition, promote clean energy investment and strengthen clean energy supply chains, the decarbonisation of industry and the development of sustainable and low-emission technologies and fuels.

h. on finance, we will encourage the provision and mobilisation of support from a wide variety of sources, including public and private sector flows, in support of climate action and ambition, just and inclusive transition, biodiversity, sustainable development and infrastructure plans, promoting economic development, including through engaging private sector expertise and capital through a spectrum of instruments.

V. People-to-people links

26. We will deepen institutional and people-to-people links, in particular in:

a. Science, Innovation and Technology: we will expand our longstanding cooperation between research institutions, academia, private enterprise and government, establishing a new Science, Innovation, Technology and Digital Dialogue to drive cooperation and the sharing of expertise in areas such as climate science, agritech, bioengineering, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, health and life sciences, clean energy, sustainable agriculture and bio-economy.

b. Health: we will build on existing partnerships to develop new collaborations including digitisation, research and development, innovation, and sharing of expertise between the NHS and SUS.

c. Education: we will continue with our cooperation and with the promotion of mutual study opportunities, including through the Chevening programme and other UK and Brazilian scholarship schemes, aiming to increase the circulation of talent in both directions. We will support gender equality, digital education and sustainable development. We will work together to increase awareness about each other’s systems of degrees and qualifications to reduce barriers for student exchange, research collaboration and transnational education.

d. Culture and Sports: With the Brazil-UK Year of Culture 2026, we aim to develop a calendar of major cultural activities, and give greater visibility to the various forms of cultural expressions of our peoples, highlighting their plurality and diversity. We will seek to reach large audiences, both in the UK and in Brazil, and increase the mutual awareness of our cultures among the general public and young audiences in particular. We will use this moment of closer cultural exchange to encourage cooperation in sports, promoting mutual understanding and friendly collaboration between our countries.

e. Consular Cooperation: We will endeavour to share best practice and lessons learned to promote improved cooperation in consular and crisis matters, and to provide the best possible consular services and assistance to our respective nationals. Where policy is owned by non-consular departments, we will endeavour to link up the most appropriate departments (for example, visas, passports, driving licences).

f. Tourism: We will further promote the flow of tourists in both directions, including through initiatives aimed at enhancing investments in appropriate infrastructure, and via the new UK Electronic Travel Authorisation process.

g. Diplomatic training: The parties will establish a strong partnership between the College of British Diplomacy and the Instituto Rio Branco and will explore future joint training to ensure that both systems are at the cutting edge of diplomatic tradecraft.

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Signed in Cernay-la-Ville on March 26, 2026, in 2 original copies, each in the English and Portuguese languages, both texts being equally authentic.

FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

FOR THE FEDERATIVE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL
Mauro Vieira, Minister of Foreign Affairs