2026 Category: Speakers

Hon. Bärbel Höhn is a German politician and former member of the Bundestag who has dedicated much of her career to the fight against climate change and the global transition to renewable energy. She previously served as Minister for Environment, Regional Planning and Agriculture for North Rhine-Westphalia, and continues her work as Commissioner for Energy Reform in Africa for Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. In 2018, she founded and has since chaired the Global Renewables Congress, a worldwide network of parliamentarians committed to advancing 100% renewable energy solutions. A regular participant in UN climate conferences, she has...

Haneea Isaad has been one of Pakistan’s most rigorous and consistent analysts of the economics of clean energy, and her work has shaped how policymakers, investors, and civil society understand the financial realities of the country’s energy transition. Based in Pakistan and covering Asian energy markets for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, she has produced influential research on the socioeconomic impact of coal power development, the case for solar and wind based power systems, the risks in Pakistan’s hydropower pipeline, and the design of policy incentives for renewable energy investment. Her analysis of Pakistan’s LNG dependence has...

Pernille Ironside arrived in Pakistan at a moment when the country’s children are bearing the sharpest edge of a climate crisis they did nothing to cause. With over two decades of humanitarian experience across conflict and disaster zones, she has made climate resilience a non-negotiable thread running through UNICEF’s work here, from clean water access to flood response. She has been direct in stating that Pakistan’s children, nearly half the country’s population, cannot realise their potential if the systems meant to protect them keep collapsing under extreme weather. Her focus is not just on emergency response but on building the...

Sumera Izhar works at the hardest edge of Pakistan’s climate emergency, where the physical consequences of floods and disasters become the lived experience of millions of displaced people. As Recovery and Durable Solutions Advisor at the International Organization for Migration in Pakistan, she works on the long-term challenge of helping communities that have been uprooted by climate-induced disasters not just return, but rebuild in ways that reduce their vulnerability to the next catastrophe. Pakistan has faced one of the world’s most severe and sustained displacement crises driven by climate change. The 2022 floods displaced nearly eight million people, and over...

Shafiullah Jan is the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s communications chief and a PTI member of the provincial assembly from Kohat. Appointed Special Assistant to Chief Minister Sohail Afridi for Information, Broadcasting and Public Relations in November 2025, he has become the administration’s most visible public voice — defending PTI’s political positions, highlighting the province’s development agenda, and raising uncomfortable questions about KP’s chronic underfunding. He has spoken out on the incomplete financial integration of the merged tribal districts, the mounting toll of terrorism and the devastating impact of climate change on a frontier province with limited fiscal space.

Aban Marker Kabraji is a distinguished conservation and climate expert with over 40 years of global experience. She previously served as Regional Director of IUCN Asia from 2003 to 2021, and currently advises UNEP’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director on climate and environment, as well as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank on biodiversity. A vocal advocate for climate action in South Asia, she has called for integrating air quality targets into Pakistan’s NDC revision, scaling up climate finance, and fostering regional cooperation for shared environmental challenges. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to conservation and development, she was awarded Pakistan’s civil honour,...

Ali Hamza Kamal is a leading voice in integrating climate-smart innovation with large-scale agricultural strategy. With a focus on the unique vulnerabilities of Pakistan’s farming landscape, he spearheads initiatives in regenerative agriculture, digital advisory services, and resource-efficient crop protection.His leadership highlights the critical role of agribusiness in driving the transition toward a carbon-neutral and food-secure future.

Ammar H. Khan leads the National Credit Guarantee Company Limited, an institution with a direct role in unlocking private finance for Pakistan’s clean energy and climate-resilient development agenda. Credit guarantee mechanisms are one of the most powerful but underutilised tools for mobilising investment in sectors and geographies that commercial banks consider too risky, and Pakistan’s transition to renewable energy, resilient agriculture, and climate-smart infrastructure depends heavily on whether such financing can be made to flow at scale. His work sits at the junction of financial systems and climate outcomes, a space that is increasingly recognised as central to whether Pakistan...

Seema A. Khan is a globally recognized strategy leader with over 25 years of experience across government, investment, and multilateral institutions. Her work focuses on bridging vision and impact through large-scale economic and innovation programs that drive socio-economic and community returns. Khan has held advisory roles within G20 and UN-related initiatives, emphasizing inclusive and holistic global change.

Jawed Ali Khan is one of Pakistan’s most experienced practitioners working at the intersection of climate policy and sustainable urban development. As Senior Advisor and Programme Manager at UN Habitat Pakistan, he brings decades of work spanning government, international organisations, and field level implementation. For more than ten years he served as Pakistan’s National Focal Point for the UNFCCC, UN Habitat, UNEP, and several other UN bodies, representing the country in international climate negotiations and technical working groups around the world. During that period he played a direct role in shaping some of Pakistan’s most important environmental frameworks, including the...