Jagdeo was honoured for his outstanding work on environment – University of Lancashire

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo

The University of Central Lancashire has announced that former President Bharrat Jagdeo was awarded an honorary doctorate degree solely on his outstanding contribution to sustainability and environmental issues.
Contrary to claims in certain sections of the media that the award was linked to a UK professor who applied for the vice chancellor post at the University of Guyana, the university in a statement explained that the former president was nominated for the award in 2011 by Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Dave Phoenix. Further, the UK professor was not appointed to the UG post.
Commenting on the reasons behind the nomination, Professor Phoenix said: “UCLan has had links with Guyana for over 15 years and supported a range of initiatives mainly around health and science, with visits from a range of staff to the country during that time. Dr Bharrat has been recognised for his work around the environment by a number of external prestigious bodies and his interests fit with the sustainability theme that is part of the university’s current strategy.
“It was felt the award would recognise our links to the country and recognise the ongoing work to strengthen links around staff and student exchange.”

Recognition
Prior to the award, the former Guyanese head of state was named Time Magazine’s “Hero of the Environment” in 2008 and in 2010, he was appointed to the UN secretary general’s high-level panel on climate financing.  That panel included former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Norway Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.
“We try and offer all our students opportunities to spend some time overseas, and currently, for example, our Massi field station has proved popular especially with students interested in tourism and archaeology. We have been in discussion with Dr Bharrat about options for student and staff exchange with Guyana, especially in the area of sustainable development and how we might establish a field station in his country.
Professor Phoenix’s pronouncements effectively rubbished spurious claims on the award made to Jagdeo, and serve as an independent and learned opinion of the former president’s accomplishments in matters of the environment and climate change.
The former president has a distinguished career as a politician and climate change advocate.
In 1992, he became a Member of Parliament in Guyana and was appointed president in 1999, serving for more than a decade.

Focus
Now, as a private citizen, the former president devotes much of his time working on the scientific, economic and social dimensions of climate change.
He has been recognised in Guyana, India, the Caribbean, Africa, Russia and the Commonwealth for his work and advocacy on climate change.