Saleemul Huq who has recently died, was not a household name. But the Economist’s climate correspondent Rachel Dobbs says it’s one worth remembering. What follows are extracts from an Economist Climate Issue about his life.
This spring I listened to Saleemul Huq, a Bangladeshi-British scientist, give a seminar on climate justice. “Every day, every week, every month, every year from now on, within our lifetimes, things are going to get worse,” he said. “Not a single country in the world is prepared.”
A few months earlier I had seen first-hand how influential this kind of stark realism could be. Last November both I and Mr Huq, a veteran of international climate negotiations, were at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh as member states agreed to establish funding for “loss and damage”—compensation paid by the biggest polluters for the harm climate change inflicts on the most vulnerable countries. The idea had been around for decades, but rich countries, the largest emitters, were staunchly opposed to what they saw as admitting culpability, and then signing a blank cheque. Since first formally introducing the concept at the 2012 climate summit in Doha, Mr Huq has been instrumental in trying to change their minds—by convincing them of just how damaging climate change has been and will be.
After two weeks of fractious negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh the mood was weary, with most delegates (and journalists) slumped silently in their seats. But the reaction of Mr Huq, and some of those around him, showed the significance of the decision as it was gavelled through. They stood and clapped for several minutes, hugging and smiling, celebrating the moment that a lifetime’s hard work had come to fruition.
Last weekend, on October 28th, as I was returning from a conference on climate science and technology in Kigali in Rwanda, I heard about Mr Huq’s death. …
The event showed how much change has been brought about by the tireless work of people like Mr Huq. The conference’s findings will be delivered at the upcoming COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, where countries must begin the difficult work of hashing out a plan for how a loss-and-damage fund might function. Mr Huq’s absence will be keenly felt.
……………………………………
iiED also has an appreciation.