New Delhi: Saleemul Huq, Director of the International Center for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, passed away on Saturday (October 28). According to the Dhaka Tribune, Huq passed away in his Dhaka residence after a massive cardiac arrest on Saturday night. Huq, an expert in climate science, was also vocal in calling for climate finance for developing countries, in addition to being a leading voice from the Global South on many other discourses on climate change including climate justice.“Climate revolutionary”Huq was listed among the top ten global scientists by the journal Nature in 2022 as a “climate revolutionary” and had contributed to many reports by the UN reports the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He was among the 12 scientists who also co-authored one of the most recent warnings that scientists have given the public about climate change and the unprecedented impacts it is causing worldwide. In a paper published in the journal BioScience on October 24, Huq and the other scientists noted that their analyses of time series data show that 20 of the 35 planetary vital signs – from carbon dioxide emissions to sea level change and global tree cover loss, which are used to track climate change – are at “record extremes”.“Life on planet Earth is under siege,” they wrote in the paper. “We are now in an uncharted territory. For several decades, scientists have consistently warned of a future marked by extreme climatic conditions because of escalating global temperatures caused by ongoing human activities that release harmful greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, time is up.Saleemul Huq with the advance ICCCAD team at the COP27 summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Photo: X/Saleemulhuq2For instance, two reports released in late July said that it was the hottest month the world has seen since records began; according to one of the reports, it could be the hottest in “tens of thousands of years”.Among the recent climate-related extremes mentioned in the paper that Huq co-authored are the heavy monsoonal rains that caused flash floods and landslides in northern India that killed more than 100 people in July 2023. “Climate change is likely making monsoons in this region more variable, causing frequent landslides and floods,” the authors wrote in the paper. The paper serves as a scary warning. “As scientists, we are increasingly being asked to tell the public the truth about the crises we face in simple and direct terms,” the authors, including Huq, wrote. “The truth is that we are shocked by the ferocity of the extreme weather events in 2023. We are afraid of the uncharted territory that we have now entered.” As of September 24 this year, 15,484 scientists are signatory to the warning. Huge loss for Global SouthNumerous climate experts and officials have expressed shock at his death, and for the loss this means to the climate science discourse, especially for the Global South. Huq was among the many climate experts who had been instrumental in the setting up of the historic Loss and Damage fund at the last Conference of Parties at Glasgow, Scotland (COP27). According to the UN Evironment Programme, loss and damage “refers to the negative consequences that arise from the unavoidable risks of climate change”, from rising sea levels to extreme weather events such as heatwaves and intense bouts of rainfall. Developing countries, including Bangladesh and India, bear the brunt of climate change due to the increasing intensity of such events made more likely by climate change. The Loss and Damage Fund aims to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.In an emotional tweet, Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy with Climate Action Network International said it was “hard to grasp” that Huq won’t be at COP28, especially when he had attended all 27 preceding COPs.“Together, we fought for the establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund. The battle for climate justice remains ongoing…I pledge to redouble my efforts, to uphold the torch, and to champion the cause with even more passion and hard work. I’ll do this in honour of your legacy, feeling your guidance and blessings from the heavens above,” his tweet read. Huq’s “pioneering global voice on adaptation”, and his “unwavering advocacy for loss and damage finance”, were “just a few of the many accomplishments that will forever be etched in our memories,” Singh said.“A huge loss to the Climate community and the world,” tweeted Aditi Mukherji, Director, Climate Change Impact Platform (CGIAR). “May he rest in peace, and May everyone else follow his legacy and make loss and damage funds a reality.”“I am so deeply saddened and shocked. Saleem has been a driving force for climate justice since the beginning of the climate debate. His brilliant mind, ability to say what has to be said and dogged determination have been beacons for decades. I will miss him terribly,” tweeted Jennifer Morgan, State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action, Federal Foreign Office of Germany.In a recent interview Huq gave to climate journalist Jayanta Basu, he had said that he was “hopeful that COP28 will deliver, including in key areas of adaptation and loss and damage which are so much important for South Asian countries including areas like the Sundarbans.”