Zainab Naeem is a PhD scholar in Environmental Sciences, holding both an MPhil and a Bachelor's degree in the same discipline. Her research interests include climate resilience, circular economy, climate risk insurance, and environmental diplomacy.

At SDPI, Zainab conducts research and policy advocacy on climate diplomacy, urban climate-resilient development, and circular economy. Her research project themes include urban climate-resilient development, used-textiles trade circularity, plastics circularity, plastic waste scoping analysis, water governance and stewardship, climate finance, and risk insurance strategies. In addition to this, she has contributed to developing sustainability and ESG reports for various corporate sector organizations, highlighting ecological sustainability and socio-economic practices. Moreover, she has facilitated training sessions on carbon markets, urban resilience, and climate communications for corporate entities, journalists, youth activists, and public sector organizations. She has also played an instrumental role in developing and implementing research communication and advocacy strategies for different research programs. Moreover, she has provided technical assistance to public and private sector schools on environmental education curriculum development.

In addition to her research and project leadership, Zainab is actively involved in fostering public-private partnerships for climate resilience, aiming to mobilize private sector actions to enhance community climate resilience. To materialize these efforts, she introduced the Sustainability Investment Expo (SIE) and Sustainability Awards initiatives in SDPI and has been leading these initiatives since 2023.

She also serves as SDPI's focal person for both the Collect and Recycle (CoRe) Alliance and the UN Living Indus Initiative. Zainab has also received specialized trainings on the Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Hotspot Analysis Tool, GHG Inventory emission reporting, geo-spatial modelling using remote sensing techniques, equipping her with advanced skills in sustainability analysis, emission reporting and environmental modelling.

As a dedicated climate activist, she regularly conducts capacity-building training sessions for different public/ private organizations and academia. She represented SDPI as a delegate at COP28, further showcasing her commitment to global climate action.