Remembering Fred Kossam

Statement on behalf of current and past members of the NAP Global Network Management Team

We were deeply saddened to receive news of the sudden passing of our friend and colleague Fred Kossam.

Fred will be remembered as a champion and advocate for climate change action. Serving as the Head of Climate Change and Research Services at the Ministry of Environment and Meteorological Services in Malawi, he was a climate change negotiator for Malawi under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. He held many roles, including sitting on the Adaptation Committee and previously serving as the Chair of the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG).

Fred also served on Malawi’s national technical team on the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process, and was one of the adaptation practitioners who called for the NAP Global Network to be established. He was a founding member of the NAP Global Network’s Steering Committee and continued in this role until his passing. He was both an ambassador for and an active contributor to Network activities, having participated four Targeted Topics Forums to share lessons on the NAP process with peers from around the world. He will be remembered fondly for his insights on adaptation and his warm personality.

In His Colleagues’ Words


“Fred helped launched the Network, and we’ll greatly miss his commitment to improving our understanding of the NAP process and the role that support programs should play. He always brought us back to what was needed on the ground in developing countries.”
— Anne Hammill, Director, NAP Global Network Secretariat

“I remember Fred as someone who led people with his questions to think beyond business-as-usual.”
— Nele Buenner, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH