Professor Saleemul Huq passed away on 28 October 2023. The Future Earth community is saddened by this loss and indebted to his legacy. 

Acclaimed for his clear and prolific science policy interventions, Saleemul Huq was a relentless champion for climate and development science, and for the voices and expertise of poorer countries. Amongst his many accolades, the Bangladeshi-British scientist was a professor at the Independent University, Bangladesh, and an advisor to the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group of the UNFCCC, the Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development and advisor to a plethora of resilience and development initiatives. He was a member of the Editorial Board of Future Earth’s 10 New Insights in Climate Science. At the time of his passing, he was also a co-author of the 2023/2024 report, due to be launched this year at COP28. In 2022, Professor Huq was named by Nature as one of the top ten most influential persons who shape science. 

Featuring frequently on the global climate science arena, Saleemul Huq was the lead author of chapters in the third, fourth and fifth assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He worked extensively in the inter-linkages between climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainable development, particularly from the perspective of the least developed countries. 

Saleemul Huq impersonated science with a heart. He was a man with a mission and a relentless voice for climate action and justice for the global South, a concept that is now beginning to take root. Professor Saleem Huq will be sorely missed by his friends and colleagues in many parts of the global sphere in which he worked.

Words of remembrance:

“This climate researcher from Bangladesh helped to force wealthy countries to pay for the losses and damages from climate change.” – Nature (https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-022-04185-3/index.html)

“The world has lost a visionary whose climate action legacy will guide and inspire generations to come.” – COP28 official X-handle.

Related: https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-022-04185-3/index.html