Najam Speaks at UNGA/IIASA Event on Systems Analysis
Professor and Dean Emeritus Adil Najam – who also serves as President of WWF International and is the 2023-24 De Janosi Visiting Fellow at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) – spoke at the launch of IIASA’s flagship report on the Institutes 50 years of systems analysis research: Systems Analysis for Sustainable Wellbeing. The launch was held on September 13, 2023, as part of the United Nations General Assembly’s 78th Session, to celebrate and showcase 50 years of systems analysis research at IIASA.
The IIASA Flagship Report launch, which was an official UN event, brought together policymakers, scientists, and representatives from various sectors. Several IIASA leading researchers and high-level collaborators and speakers to highlight key aspects of the report and the importance of advancing the 2030 Agenda.
In his remarks, Professor Najam highlighted one of the report’s three key findings on the need for global collection action and stressed that the times we live in are particularly challenging because “the (global) appetite for collective action” is so low and that there is a “lack of faith in institutions and organizations and, therefore, in the mechanisms for global governance.” He added that “we cannot get out of the great challenges of today by ‘tinkering’ alone” and, therefore, there is a need for boldness in how we think about knowledge being translated to action.
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.