UN Climate Change News, 12 June 2025 - The first Climate Week of 2025, held in Panama, served as a springboard for real-world solutions that support countries' climate actions. Policymakers, experts and practitioners came together to turn climate ambition into tangible results - across three critical pillars: finance, technology and carbon markets.
The Technology Lab, held under the theme "Climate Technologies and Innovation: Understanding Needs and Gaps for Moving from NDC Ambition to Action," raised awareness about proven climate technology solutions that can help accelerate adaptation and mitigation across regions, identifying the steps needed for implementation.
Structured as a series of interactive roundtables, the Lab tackled challenges and opportunities in four key areas: the water-energy-food nexus, energy systems, industrial decarbonization, and artificial intelligence (AI) for climate action.
It opened with the launch of the AI for Climate Action Award 2025, a global competition spearheaded by the UNFCCC Technology Executive Committee (TEC) and the UN Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), in partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The award seeks open-source, AI-powered solutions tailored to the needs of least-developed countries and small island developing states. Submissions are open until 31 July 2025, with the winning innovation to be showcased at COP30 in Belém this November.
Participants from government, the private sector and civil society explored sector-specific barriers, shared good practices, and identified steps to accelerate climate technology deployment. They agreed that while innovation - from AI to renewables and industrial decarbonization - is abundant, scaling it requires sustained, inclusive investment and improved finance flows.
A roundtable discussion on the water-energy-food nexus and agrifood systems revealed a disconnect between community-driven technological solutions and national strategies. Despite a wealth of innovations already in use, uptake remains limited due to insufficient financing, weak coordination across agencies, and low public awareness. Participants called for climate finance mechanisms that not only support technology deployment but also invest in education and capacity-building, aligning national planning with community-level needs for long-term impact.
Discussions on energy systems and industrial decarbonization echoed similar challenges. While renewable energy momentum is growing, deployment is slowed by skilled labor shortages and restricted access to capital. Industrial decarbonization faces high upfront costs and continued fossil fuels competitiveness.
Experts stressed the need for blended finance, risk-sharing models, investment incentives and clear regulatory frameworks to accelerate the adoption of green technology solutions. Across these sectors, coordinated efforts between policymakers, financial institutions and the private sector - supported by clear national targets and regulatory frameworks - were seen as essential to driving both energy transformation and industrial emissions reduction.
A roundtable session on AI for climate action highlighted its potential across both mitigation and adaptation. However, participants raised concerns about the risks of AI: energy intensity, high costs, and regulatory uncertainty. Without robust governance, ethical standards, and sustainable funding, the potential of AI as an enabler for climate action could fall short.
Looking Ahead
The Technology Lab outcomes will inform the TEC's workplan by clarifying technology needs, gaps and scalable solutions, and by strengthening technology development and transfer through better links to finance, carbon markets and capacity-building.
The Lab reaffirmed a central message: turning climate ambition into reality requires coordinated, well-funded and inclusive implementation. The tools are emerging, but efforts need to accelerate to deploy them at scale.
