Announcing the Saleemul Huq Memorial Scholarship finalists and C-CIQ toolkit launch

The world is witnessing an unprecedented scale of climate change impacts that are manifesting in both slow and rapid onset events, such as rising sea levels and prolonged droughts, and extreme weather events. There is an urgent need to address the impacts of climate change, focusing particularly on the loss and damage faced by communities vulnerable to climate change.

This online event provided a space for announcing the Saleemul Huq Memorial Scholarship recipients and launching the Comprehensive Climate Impact Quantification (C-CIQ) toolkit.

The Saleemul Huq Memorial Scholarship, established under the ALL ACT (Alliance for Locally Led Transformative Action on Loss and Damage) initiative, aims to support local experts and organisations to capture the diverse ways climate change is affecting communities.

The 25 finalists, representing diverse regions such as Asia, Africa, the Pacific, the Caribbean and Latin America, focused on developing practical, locally-driven solutions to climate challenges.

Huq, who died in October 2023, was director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) and a senior associate of IIED. He was awarded an OBE by the Queen in the 2022 New Year's Honours List for his services to combating international climate change.

The event also launched a South-South-North peer review network to facilitate knowledge exchange, improve research quality, and foster collaboration across regions.

The C-CIQ toolkit combines participatory methodologies and economic valuation techniques, making it accessible to local organisations that have traditionally been excluded from complex climate assessment processes.

During the event, early case studies from India and Mali showcased how the C-CIQ toolkit can be effectively used to conduct thorough climate impact assessments and develop practical solutions that are grounded in local realities.

The event provided an opportunity to learn about new methodologies for assessing climate impacts, how the Saleemul Huq Memorial Scholarship will support development of practical solutions and participants explored how the C-CIQ Toolkit could enhance local capacity.

About the speakers:

• Saqib Huq, managing director, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)
• Ritu Bharadwaj, principal researcher, IIED
• Tom Mitchell, executive director, IIED
• Zinta Zommers, vice-chair, Working Group II, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and lead for climate science at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
• Harj Narulla, barrister, climate and environmental justice, Doughty Street Chambers
• Bhim Adhikari, senior programme specialist, International Development Research Centre

Awardees of Saleemul Huq Memorial Scholarship 

Scholarships were awarded to 25 finalists across a number of themes, including loss of quality of life, mental and physical health impacts and social disruption. Click the box below to see all the awardees in each category, or download the full list of winners (PDF).