The growing interest in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices has changed the way companies and investors make strategic decisions. ESG emerged as a response to the need for greater transparency and sustainability in business, especially in emerging economies such as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). However, there are still gaps in the literature regarding the impact of these practices on the cost of debt (third-party capital) for companies in these countries. This article adopted a quantitative approach, using data from 594 BRICS companies between 2015 and 2022, collected from LSEG and Bloomberg databases. The dependent variable was the cost of debt (Ki), measured by panel data regression. The independent variables were based on ESG scores, divided into environmental, social, and governance dimensions, and panel regression models were applied to test the proposed hypotheses. The main objective was to analyze the impact of ESG practices on the cost of third-party capital for BRICS companies. The results show a negative correlation between ESG performance and the cost of debt, and environmental practices still seem to be in a phase of consolidation in emerging countries due to regulatory and economic challenges, with their implementation being quite variable across countries.