by iFaqeer
Charaagh Hasan Hasrat once said:
allah allah fusooN naghma-e-ishq
saara aalam hai gosh bar aawaz
The news going around in Pakistani circles is the fact that one of our own is the one of the Convening Lead Authors for the IPCC team that shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. And of course, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change) team is chaired by another South Asian; Rajendra Pachauri.
Pakistani scientist in Nobel team -DAWN - National; October 14, 2007: WASHINGTON, Oct 13: Pakistani professor Adil Najam, now teaching at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, US, is amongst the team of scientists and experts in the Intergovernmental …
Over the years, I have come to know Dr. Najam rather well, and have learned from and been inspired by him. I’ve written about him quite a few times at my blog. For Example: here and especially here.
From a comment Dr. Najam posted on Pakistaniat.com:
Thank you to all for their kind wishes and congrats. I should add, however, that the Nobel was awarded to the work of the IPCC (a panel of eminent global climate change experts), so I am just one of the many experts on that Panel. I have served on the IPCC for some 8 years, the last many as a Convening Lead Author. So, yes, it does feel terrific to have one’s work and research celebrated by the Nobel Committee, but it really is an honor shared by many (including by Dr. Tariq Banuri who played a leading role in the IPCC’s evolution in the past).
Some links: Dawn, Boston Globe, Encyclopedia of the Earth, The Fletcher School.
In the idiom of South Asian sport, I want to say:
“Well played, Adil bhai; buhat aala, Adil bhai!”
Note: This post is a tribute from iFaqeer, Owais Mughal and many other friends. It is being produced here inspite of Adil’s objection. We would’ve kept quiet but our situation is now what Dagh Dehlvi had once said:
Dagh ki shaamat jo aai iztaraab-e-shauq meiN
hal-e-dil kam-bakht ne sab un ke muNh par rakh dia
So while we’ve taken this action of writing our ‘haal-e-dil’, we hope our readers will give Adil due credit for his research work in their comments below.
Congratulations Adil Sahab. We are all very proud of you.
http://www.pal-c.org/PakistaniscientistinNobelteam .html
Inspiring news. COngratulations and keep making us proud. This news made my day.
Congratulations. We need more positive role models and we need them in intelelctual areas not just sports and singing. Good job. Nice editorial on Nobel and Najam in The News.
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=760 91
Congrats Adil sb,
Its really great to hear that. Keep up the good work.
Aleem
Congratulations Adil Najam. You deserved it.
- I have had the pleasure of knowing Adil Najam from his PTV days watching his programmes conducted with flair and his other programs as well.
I am mighty proud, as if, this achievement is mine.
I have always felt and been proud of being a Pakistani and did not opt for a foreign passport when it was abundantly available for my degree.
Adil Najam is a good ambassador of Pakistan.
His achievement should be recognized NOW and immediately before these dark days and nights get any longer.
We should all write to various papers and campaign for him accordingly.
I will do my part.
Congratulations ,Adil.
Sincerely
Naseer
This is amazing news. I have known of Adil Najam’s multiple talents for many years now and always expected big things from him. But this is huge. Wonderful. Congratulations.
Searching on the web I found this interview of his on this award. It demonstrates his love for Pakistan and for humanity really and his large vision.
http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?option=com_cont ent&task=view&id=18622&Itemid=2
Pakistani expert on Nobel panel hopes for greater action on climate issues
WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (APP): A Pakistani scientist, who is among experts on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, that shares the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice President Al Gore, hopes recognition of the crucial importance of climate change to development and security will help spur greater worldwide action toward stemming environmental degradation.
Adil Najam, a professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, stated the Nobel committee’s Peace Prize reflects recognition of the fact that the future well being and security of the planet and of its people depends upon the environment.
“That climate is a security issue, not just a ‘feel good’ issue. This will clearly raise the profile of the climate issue,” Najam, who has served the IPCC for eight years as a lead author and the last four years as a convening lead author for its latest assessment report, told APP.
He also felt that highly industrialized nations including the US, which have been slow to act on the climate issue, will now find additional pressure on them to act and do something.
As for developing countries like Pakistan, environment is really a development issue at its core, said Dr Najam, who holds a doctorate and two masters’ degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a specialization in negotiation from Harvard Law School, and an engineering degree from UET, Lahore.
“It’s about the quality of life of people. If we care about people, especially poor people, then we must care also about the environment. Because the poor - whether they are farmers, or herders, or fuel wood gatherers, or fisher folk - they all depend on the environment for their livelihoods. If the environment deteriorates then the quality of their lives will deteriorate. That, ultimately, is the real environmental challenge,” he emphasized.
So what is the single most important factor that can help stave off further environmental decline around the world?
“The most important thing that we can do to stem environmental degradation is to look at our own consumption and lifestyle; especially amongst the rich and in rich countries. In this respect the environment is also a justice issue. Till now the poor are subsidizing the lifestyles of the rich. This cannot, must not, continue.”
As regards saving the planet from further warming, the avid scientist argued part of the solution to climate change will come from technology - better automobiles, alternative and renewable energy, better building technologies.
“But, ultimately, if we want to address global climate change in the context of sustainable development, then we will need to also address consumption issues amongst the rich, in both developing and industrialized countries.
“This does not mean we have to halt development in the developing countries; it means that we have to rethink what we mean by development,” he explained.
In countries like Pakistan, he added, “we cannot afford to make the same developmental mistakes that others have made. We have to leapfrog and do better than others.
“But this will only happen if the industrialized countries also do their part… first, by assisting developing countries and second by reducing their own emissions and cutting their own consumption.”
On collective prize for the panel, he said it is acknowledgement of the work and research of a lot of people.
“It gives one the motivation to keep doing what we are doing and work harder to find solutions for what is probably one of the biggest challenges faced by the world.”
Congratulation Adil for serving on an important committee, and make us all proud of you and Pakistan. Please keep up the good work.
Azam Chowdhry