Always thinking outside the box: Pablo Suarez remembered

IIED wants to recognise the enormous loss of a dear friend and close collaborator with IIED over many years: Pablo Suarez, associate director, research and innovation at the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre died earlier this month, aged 53.

Not only was Suarez a trailblazer on using games as a way to understand climate risk, he was also at the heart of making Development and Climate Days, an annual gathering alongside the United Nations climate change negotiations that links the issues of climate change and development, such a success.

Many at IIED have special memories of working with him, also at the international conferences on community-based adaptation, and the energy and urgency he brought to tackling climate change.  

“Pablo was such an amazing presence, always innovating and taking energy from different developments and communities around him,” said Tom Mitchell, IIED’s executive director. 

“At the heart of his games though was a desire to create a little bit of the pressure that comes with being on the frontline of the climate crisis.  

“I remember desperately trying to hang on to my beans in the face of worsening storm threat as Pablo rolled the dice. These things stick with you and that was Pablo’s genius, finding new ways to change behaviours."