WWF Annual Review 2023 - 16

O U R N E W PR E S I D EN T
Globally renowned academic and policy expert Dr Adil Najam
became the new President of WWF International in July 2023.
Dr Adil Najam 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.
Dr Najam, who is Dean Emeritus of
the Frederick S. Pardee School of
Global Studies at Boston University
and continues as its Professor of
International Relations and of Earth
and Environment, was a lead author for
the Third and Fourth Assessments of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), and has written over
100 scholarly papers and book chapters.
He is a former Trustee of WWF
International's International Board
(2011-2019) and has served on multiple
other boards including as Chair of the
Luc Hoffmann Institute and South
Asian Network of Development and
Environment Economics. He has also
frequently served as an advisor to other
international organizations and NGOs,
and to governments across the world.
In February 2009 he was appointed to
the Committee for Development Policy
by the United Nations SecretaryGeneral,
and he has been awarded the
two highest civil awards of Pakistan:
the Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence)
in 2010 and the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Crescent
of Excellence) in 2023 for his services to
education, environment and science.
Kirsten Schuijt, WWF International
Director General, said: " Adil's vast
experience, knowledge and passion
are crucial to WWF's mission to
stop the degradation of the Earth's
natural environment and to build a
future in which people live in
harmony with nature. "
Dr Najam replaces Neville Isdell,
who was the President ad interim for
13 months while the search for a
permanent candidate was undertaken.
Kirsten Schuijt said: " On behalf of my
colleagues at WWF International,
I would like to thank Neville for his
incredible dedication and commitment
as President ad interim, and for all
he has done in support of the
WWF Network. "
" I am greatly
humbled to be
invited to become
the President
of WWF at a
time when its
long-standing
mission of working to heal and
sustain the natural world and
its life-supporting systems has
become more urgent than ever.
I am deeply honoured to be able
to work again with dedicated
'pandas' all across the world -
members, partners, experts and
colleagues - whose dedication
and commitment to creating a
just, fair and sustainable planet
for all its people and for nature
has always been a source of
great inspiration for me. "
Dr Adil Najam
A snow leopard in the Naltar
Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan,
Pakistan. See page 37 for
our work to carry out the
first ever road ecology
study in the HindukushKarakoram-Himalaya
landscape,
a key habitat
for snow leopards.
WWF INTERNATIONAL 2023
© Muhammad Osama / WWF-Pakistan
WWF Annual Review 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of WWF Annual Review 2023
