By Danielle SwainBelém, Brazil danielle@newsroom.gySummaryGuyana urges stronger South–South climate cooperation at a COP30 panel, stressing shared tech and locally adapted solutions.Speakers from Guyana, India and Brazil said most climate-tech funding still flows to richer nations.Guyana identified clean energy, digital technology and climate adaptation as key areas for deeper collaboration.At a time when the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations are pushing for new models of cooperation, Guyana is positioning itself as a pivotal connector in a rapidly expanding South-South movement. One that seeks to scale climate technologies not by only importing solutions from the global North, but by sharing the innovations, data, and lived experience of fellow developing countries.That message rang clearly through a panel discussion on South-South collaboration at COP30 on November 12, where Guyana’s Senior Director for Climate and REDD+, Dr. Pradeepa Bholanath, joined climate innovators from India and Brazil to confront a long-standing problem: climate solutions built in wealthy nations often fail in the Global South, not because the ideas are poor, but because the contexts are different.“In Guyana, we are building entire sectors from the ground up,” Dr. Bholanath said.However, she explained that the country’s rapid economic expansion has created enormous opportunity that requires “very deliberate choices” about the technologies and partnerships it brings in. Guyana, she argued, is at a critical moment, positioned to construct its digital, energy, and manufacturing foundations while learning from peers across the tropics that share similar challenges.Global South rising The session, hosted by the Climate Collective and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s Global Innovation Hub, underscored how climate innovation is accelerating across the South.Panelists from Guyana, India and Brazil speak during a COP30 discussion on expanding South–South climate cooperation, highlighting how developing nations can accelerate clean energy and digital innovation by sharing locally tested solutions. (Yusuf Ali/News Room)India today boasts more than 8,000 climate-tech startups. Brazil has a maturing bioeconomy and a growing network of accelerators. And in Guyana where 85 percent of the country remains forested, climate finance, renewable energy expansion, and digital transformation are reshaping the development trajectory.But panelists also confronted stark inequalities. Between 95 and 96 per cent of global climate-tech funding still flows to the North, leaving countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia to compete for what remains. That, they argued, is where South-South collaboration becomes not just a principle but an economic strategy.“Market fit, scale, and speed,” said Milena Martins of Brazil’s Climate Ventures. “These are things we can only unlock by working together.”Brazil’s technology stress-testing solutions proven in complex, high-risk environments, could accelerate deployment in Guyana, India, or the Congo Basin. India’s startup infrastructure could expand into Latin America. And Caribbean/South American states like Guyana could model how forest nations monetise ecosystems without destroying them.Guyana’s climate priorities – renewable energy and adaptationFor Guyana, the clearest frontier for South-South engagement is renewable energy, particularly solar. As the country moves to ensure 80 percent of its grid comes from clean sources by 2040, Dr. Bholanath said that lessons from India, China, and Brazil are more relevant than ever.The second frontier is adaptation. Most of Guyana’s population lives below sea level along the coast, making flooding one of its most devastating threats. The country lost 60 percent of its GDP during a single flood event in 2005.With a smaller population living inland in forest communities, Guyana is also experimenting with climate-finance models that direct money straight to Indigenous villages, who are crucial to saving forests, over 20 percent of revenues, by Dr. Bholanath’s estimate.These examples, panelists argued, are precisely the innovations the South should be sharing with one another.“Being first movers” The panel repeatedly revisited a cultural barrier in the South – the fear of being a ‘first mover’. Corporations and governments often hesitate to enter new technology spaces without precedent or long data histories. But for the South to lead, Sombul Munshi of the Climate Champions Team opined, that mindset must shift.“It’s not that the risk is high,” added Martins. “It’s that we don’t yet have the data. Someone has to build it.”Guyana, with its push for artificial intelligence adoption and digitalisation, is aiming to do exactly that—becoming both a beneficiary and builder of new climate-tech pathways.A wider geography of collaborationDr Pradeepa Bholanath poses for a photo with a representative from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, following a discussion on strengthening Africa’s role in South–South climate cooperation. (Yusuf Ali/News Room)The audience questions came from Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Azerbaijan, underscoring that this movement is not regional but continental. Panelists called for strengthening chambers of commerce, expanding networks like Conservation International and WWF that already span hemispheres, and building shared data platforms to make solutions transferable across tropical economies.South-South collaboration, they argued, is no longer a diplomatic slogan. It is an emerging marketplace.And in this new marketplace, small but ambitious countries like Guyana are not merely recipients, they are becoming architects.The post At COP30, Guyana emerges as a South–South bridge for climate collaboration appeared first on News Room Guyana.