Najam Speaks at Launch of AIIB Report on NetZero
On February 6, 2023, Adil Najam, Dean Emeritus and Professor of International Relations and Earth and Environment at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, was invited to speak at a launch of the flagship report of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Asian Infrastructure Finance 2022: Moonshots for the Emerging World.
The report focuses on building state capacity and mobilizing the private sector for NetZero in responding to the global climate change crisis. In his remarks, Najam highlighted the importance of thinking also of adaptation, which is not the key concern and priority of low-emission high-vulnerability countries. He also encouraged these countries to interrogate the practical aspects of the “NetZero idea” so that it does not become merely a slogan or a way to kick the difficult work of cutting emissions in high-emission countries down the road.
Najam said that the most important contribution of the report was its focus on state capacity which is a much bigger – and more difficult – challenge in many developing countries than state willingness. He suggested that until countries do not begin “owning” the climate change problem – not because they have caused it, but because they will invariably suffer its consequences – we will not see meaningful action on climate change in developing countries.
This launch event was one of a series of launch events of the AIIB’s flagship report held across Asia, and was co-hosted by the Pakistan Institute for Development Economics (PIDE) in Islamabad, Pakistan on February 6, 2023. Opening talks were given by Pakistan’s Minister of Petroleum Musadik Masood Malik and Dr. Eric Berglöf, the AIIB’s Chief Economist.
To read the full report, visit the AIIB’s website.
Adil Najam is a global public policy expert who served as 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 Professor Najam on his Pardee School faculty profile.