Najam Leads Series of Consultations on Indus River Basin’s Climate Readiness
Between February 9-11, 2022, Adil Najam, Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, hosted a series of expert consultations exploring ways to ready the Indus River basin for the coming impacts of climate change.
Najam’s presentations were organized by the “Living Indus” initiative, a project of the United Nations and the government of Pakistan that seeks to identify initiatives that could address the climate challenges facing the basin. His talks took place over three days in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad.
In his addresses, Najam noted that the Indus River basin is the lifeblood of Pakistan’s economy and society. While the climate challenges ahead are great, Najam’s expert consultations highlighted that there are a number of opportunities. One key takeaway he wanted to emphasize was that thinking of the basin through a climate adaptation lens should not simply be to avert things getting worse but should aim at the basin getting better. The Indus River has sustained civilization for nearly 8,000 years, and according to Najam the challenge now is to ensure that it continues to do so despite climate change.
Adil Najam is a global public policy expert who also served as the Vice-Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. He is the Inaugural Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University and was the former Vice-Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). His research focuses on issues of global public policy, especially those related to global climate change, South Asia, Muslim countries, environment and development, and human development. Read more about Dean Najam on his faculty profile.