{"id":58404,"date":"2024-01-24T14:34:42","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T19:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/?p=58404"},"modified":"2024-01-26T11:22:43","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T16:22:43","slug":"najam-critiques-cop28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/2024\/01\/24\/najam-critiques-cop28\/","title":{"rendered":"Najam Critiques COP28"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Adil
Adil Najam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adil Najam<\/a>, Dean Emeritus and Professor at Boston University\u2019s Pardee School of Global Studies and President of WWF-International<\/span>, was featured in a two-page cover story<\/a> in The Express Tribune<\/a>, sharing insights on the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) and the future of fossil fuels and climate politics. Reflecting on COP28, Najam expressed a sense of disappointment, highlighting the lack of substantial progress over the 28-year history of the conference. In a long form interview, he stated,<\/p>\n

“What consistently strikes me is the fact that it’s the 28th iteration. It’s been 28 years, and it hasn’t yielded substantial results \u2014 that’s what 28 means.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Najam criticized the COP’s lack of ambition, noting that while some progress is made, it falls short of addressing the urgent challenges posed by climate change. He emphasized the need for more decisive action and criticized the tendency to lower ambitions over the years. Regarding the contrasting opinions on COP28, Najam highlighted the two prevailing logics\u2014optimistic views that progress is gradual and pessimistic views that negotiations present a take-it-or-leave-it scenario.<\/p>\n

Expressing skepticism about COP commitments, Najam stated,<\/p>\n

“We shouldn’t take them seriously. The COPs have perfected the art of substituting promises for action.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He urged for a focus on tangible actions rather than grand promises and emphasized the role of scholars, civil society, academia, and journalists in holding countries accountable for their commitments.<\/p>\n

Addressing the global mistrust on climate issues, Najam pointed out that distrust exists not only between the global south and north but also within regions, between rich and poor, and among different age groups. He advocated evaluating the success or failure of COPs based on tangible actions and ambitious goals rather than promises.<\/p>\n

On the location of COP29 in a gas-exporting country with a non-democratic regime, Najam urged judgment based on actions and ambition rather than preconceived notions. He emphasized the need to shift perspectives, with countries like Pakistan taking meaningful actions independently rather than solely relying on external aid.<\/p>\n

Najam also touched on the widening of COP topics to address the entirety of nature and the overall impact on nature. While supporting the integration of climate and nature, he cautioned against distraction from core negotiation points and emphasized the urgency of addressing existing issues.<\/p>\n

In the interview, Najam expressed concerns about the insufficient Loss and Damage fund, questioning its adequacy and highlighting disparities between funds allocated and actual damages. He called for a redefinition of climate finance to encompass the direct contributions of the poorest individuals and countries affected by climate impacts.<\/p>\n

Professor Adil Najam’s insights provide a critical perspective on COP28, emphasizing the need for greater ambition, tangible actions, and a shift in perspectives to address the pressing challenges of climate change and can be accessed in full here.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Adil Najam<\/a>\u00a0is 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.\u00a0<\/span>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<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>faculty profile<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an interview with ‘The Express Tribune,’ Najam expressed disappointment over the lack of ambition, emphasized the need for tangible actions, and called for a shift in perspectives to address urgent climate challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22859,"featured_media":56281,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8410],"tags":[12144,1720,509,12130,12120,12157,9681,9486,8859],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58404"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22859"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58404"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58413,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58404\/revisions\/58413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}