“Pathways to Net-Zero Through South-South Synergies: Climate-Resilient Technologies, Capacities, and Cultural Anchors” – UNFCCC Pavilion, Blue Zone, 14th November 2025

COMSATS, in collaboration with the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), Morocco, and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), convened an official UNFCCC COP side event, competitively selected through the UNFCCC call for proposals, and held in the designated UNFCCC Side Event Room reserved for official sessions. Titled “Pathways to Net-Zero Through South–South Synergies: Climate-Resilient Technologies, Capacities, and Cultural Anchors,” the dialogue brought together senior policymakers, scientific leaders, development economists, and technology innovators to deliberate on how South–South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) can function as a catalytic force for net-zero transitions grounded in regional context, cultural continuity, and climate-resilient innovation systems across the Global South.

The session opened with opening remarks from H.E. Dr. Salim M. Al Malik, Director General of ICESCO; Ambassador Dr. Muhammad Nafees Zakaria, Executive Director COMSATS; and Mr. Nasser Kamel, Secretary General of the UfM. Their interventions collectively underscored the structural injustice embedded in global climate asymmetries, where the Global South bears the overwhelming brunt of climate catastrophes, despite historically negligible emissions, and called for a paradigm shift in global cooperation, centered on equity, shared responsibility, and context-appropriate technological transformation.

Ambassador Zakaria highlighted climate change as a systemic development shock, destabilizing hydrological cycles, intensifying food–water–energy insecurity, and inflicting trillions in cumulative losses on climate-vulnerable states. He underscored that South–South synergies are indispensable to scaling home-grown innovations, such as Pakistan’s Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme, the rapid expansion of solar capacity, regional energy-connectivity corridors including CASA-1000 and TAPI, and the deployment of indigenous EV technologies. He noted that COMSATS has been instrumental in advancing endogenous climate technologies and scientific capacity, while emphasizing the moral imperative for the Global North to operationalize grant-based finance, technology transfer, and debt relief in alignment with the Paris Agreement and Loss and Damage commitments.

H.E. Dr. Salim M. Al Malik called for a human-centered, culturally anchored climate response, stressing that societies in the Global South are already reconfiguring governance, knowledge, and social protection systems to cope with intensifying climate extremes. He argued that net-zero pathways must be fundamentally cooperative, interregional, and trust-based, reflecting shared histories, common vulnerabilities, and mutually reinforcing development goals.

Moderated by Mr. Hamid Majid Abbasi, Senior Executive, FACE–FFC Pakistan, the panel explored the nexus of culture, climate resilience, and technological convergence, examining how indigenous ecological knowledge, digital innovation, and South–South financing architectures can together generate scalable, just, and context-sensitive pathways toward net-zero.

The panelist, Mr. Mathias Mogge, Chief Executive Officer, Welthungerhilfe (WHH), underscored that blended finance and risk-sharing mechanisms, such as resilience bonds, climate-smart guarantee facilities, and adaptive agricultural investment platforms have demonstrated success in mobilizing both public and private capital for climate-resilient food systems. He emphasized that scaling these mechanisms across the Global South requires data interoperability, harmonized monitoring frameworks, and adaptive management systems capable of capturing multidimensional co-benefits across climate resilience, nutrition, biodiversity conservation, and livelihood stability. He stressed that standardized indicators remain essential for enabling joint regional assessments under South–South cooperation.

Drawing on UfM’s experience with highly diverse Mediterranean societies, Mr. Grammenos Mastrojeni, Senior Deputy Secretary General for Energy and Climate Action, emphasized the strategic integration of indigenous knowledge, local innovation, and cultural institutions into energy transition frameworks. He noted that culturally embedded governance models, rooted in long-standing agricultural, water-management, and community stewardship traditions, enhance social acceptance of climate policies and strengthen community resilience. He highlighted UfM’s facilitation of cross-border knowledge exchanges, advocating for South–South partnerships that elevate traditional ecological knowledge, community-led adaptation, and inclusive regulatory structures that democratize climate technology adoption.
Mr. Leonardus Vergutz, Chief Scientific Officer, OCP Nutricrops, drew attention to the centrality of soil health as a biophysical determinant of resilience. He proposed that coordinated South–South research frameworks linking soil-health datasets with climate early-warning systems can significantly enhance drought prediction, food-insecurity forecasting, and adaptive cropping strategies. He stressed that interoperable soil-climate platforms can enable countries to co-design drought-resilient agronomic solutions and optimize nutrient-management regimes under increasingly volatile climatic conditions.

Mr. Lincoln Teo, Managing Director, Zero13 & Founder, Intelligence Wise (iWise), outlined how digital innovations, such as decentralized verification systems, blockchain-enabled carbon markets, and AI-driven climate-finance vetting tools, can unlock efficient, transparent, and credible financing pathways. He noted that cross-regional digital collaboration can significantly reduce transaction costs, expand access to climate capital for smaller economies, and address long-standing barriers to trust and transparency in climate finance.

Dr. El Khalil Cherif, Senior Researcher, Institute for Systems and Robotics, University of Lisbon, emphasized the need for integrated, transboundary early-warning systems capable of pooling climate data across South-South networks. He advocated for interoperable hazard-monitoring architectures that fuse satellite observation, machine learning, and geospatial risk analytics, enabling real-time decision support for floods, wildfires, and coastal hazards. He stressed that responsible data governance, AI-ethics frameworks, and data-sovereignty protocols are essential to ensure that South-South cooperation in predictive analytics remains equitable and aligned with local priorities.
The deliberations underscored that net-zero transitions in the Global South must be approached as holistic development transformations rather than linear technological shifts. Speakers highlighted that strengthened South–South Cooperation serves as a critical structural enabler for regionally adaptive technologies, shared climate intelligence, and co-financed solutions grounded in local socio-ecological dynamics. The discussions further reaffirmed the centrality of cultural anchors and indigenous ecological knowledge in enhancing social legitimacy, behavioral uptake, and governance resilience. Panelists also stressed the indispensability of data-driven, interoperable early-warning and soil–climate information systems for predictive risk management and reinforced food-system resilience. Equally emphasized was the need for science-based and blended financing mechanisms capable of mobilizing large-scale capital flows to support climate-resilient agriculture and future-ready energy transitions. In addition, the dialogue highlighted the transformative role of machine learning, responsible AI, and digital verification frameworks in accelerating innovation while preserving data sovereignty, ethical safeguards, and community priorities.