Navigating Climate Governance

Episode 11

Pakistan is fraught with a number of economic, social, political, and environmental challenges. To effectively address these issues, it is imperative to not view them in isolation but to combat them in tandem paying attention to the systemic connections between them. Deferring climate action in favour of poverty reduction or political stabilization presents a very real threat; the magnitude of the climate change problem may become so large that it overwhelms all other challenges. Dr. Adil Najam and Rafay Alam discuss how governments can find a balance between imperatives of economic growth and development while prioritizing meaningful climate action.

Dr. Adil Najam is currently serving as the President of WWF International. He is a leading public scholar whose teaching, research and public engagement focuses on issues of global public policy especially those related to conservation and environment, sustainable and human development, and climate change in the Global South.  He is the Dean Emeritus of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University and continues as Professor of International Relations and of Earth and Environment. He previously served as Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in Lahore, Pakistan.

Rafay Alam is a Pakistani environmental lawyer and activist. In 2013, after over a decade of practicing corporate and constitutional law, Rafay co-founded Saleem, Alam & Co., a firm that specializes in the energy, water, natural resources, and urban infrastructure sectors. As one of Pakistan’s leading environment lawyers, Rafay regularly advises the federal and provincial governments, the World Bank, ADB, IFC and a number of INGOs on issues of policy and strategy in these sectors, and he provides corporate clients strategic sustainability insights.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of CDPR or any of its affiliates.