Foreign Affairs Ministry congratulates Agard on UN appointment

The Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs has congratulated UWI Prof John Agard on his appointment as co-chair to the UN’s 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report team.

The news of his appointment came last week after he was assigned by UN Secretary-General António Guterres to help draft the report.

Agard will be apart of a group of 15 scientists as the only one from the Caribbean on the team.

Currently, he is the director at the St Augustine Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and a professor of Tropical Island Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, at UWI, St Augustine.

His areas of academic specialisation include Small Island Ecology and Resilience Building, Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, and scenarios and pathways to human well-being and a sustainable future.

In a release on Thursday evening, the ministry said, "The Government commends Prof Agard for this achievement and for his pursuit of the opportunity to contribute to the drafting of this significant report which will inform the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.

"He has served in numerous capacities at the local, regional and international levels, including chairman of the Environmental Management Authority of Trinidad and Tobago from 1997-2000 and, currently as a Review Editor (Small Islands), Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Working Group II Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability 6th Assessment Report."

The ministry added, "Prof Agard will serve as co-chair of an independent group of scientists whose report will aim to strengthen the science-policy interface and serve as a strong evidence-based instrument to support policymakers in promoting poverty eradication and sustainable development.

"The report will also provide guidance on the state of global sustainable development from a scientific perspective, address new and emerging issues and challenges and offer recommendations for action by governments and other actors."