Reconciling Industrialization and Climate Action in Emerging Economies: The Role of South-South and International Collaboration

​Emerging economies face the dual imperative of accelerating industrialization to create jobs and drive socio-economic development, while advancing ambitious climate goals under their NDCs. How can countries design industrialization pathways that align decarbonization, value addition, and development priorities? The global energy transition is also reshaping value chains, from minerals to finished goods, offering new growth and development opportunities for emerging and mineral-rich economies to capture greater value locally while aligning industrial development with climate goals.

​Realizing this potential demands a comprehensive policy framework, access to long-term finance, technology and knowledge transfer, and strengthened trade linkages based on new cooperation models that better integrate the development priorities of emerging economies. This roundtable, hosted by Sustainable Energy for All and the Council for Critical Minerals Development in the Global South, will explore how south–south and international collaborations can be leveraged to advance industrialization and climate action agendas in emerging economies. Bringing together policymakers, industry leaders, and experts from across emerging and developed economies, the discussion will surface practical insights on policy and implementation challenges, along with collaboration models being championed by India, Brazil, and other economies that can be scaled up through multilateral platforms, including the COP30 Presidency’s Action Agenda.