Najam Says ‘Loss and Damage Fund’ is a Make or Break for COP28
As world leaders and negotiators get ready for the latest round of global climate negotiations, COP28, which begin in Dubai on November 30th and will continue till December 12, 2023, Dean Emeritus and Professor Adil Najam was interviewed by Development Today in a curtain raiser on this latest round of planetary talks. Najam, whose research has focused on international environmental negotiations, especially climate negotiations, is quoted as saying, ““If loss and damage is not resolved or becomes even more contentious, it has the real possibility of taking everything else down.”
Agreement on a global Loss and Damage Fund has been an academic focus of Najam’s work (here, here, here and here) and its finalization is one of the most important items on the COP28 agenda. According to Najam in this Development Today article: “For developing countries, the loss and damage fund is going to be one of the biggest things that they will be coming to talk about.” Commenting on the draft agreement text that will be discussed at COP28, Najam points out:
“In my personal view, I don’t agree that this is the best we could have achieved. I just think we have avoided the worst, which was getting nothing… What we actually have now is an empty shell; the emptiness is glaring in our face.”
The full article can be accessed here.
Adil Najam is Dean Emeritus and Professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University and since July 2023 also serves as the President of WWF-International. He served as the Inaugural Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies from 2014-2022. He is also a 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 Najam on his Pardee School faculty profile.