Event

Professor of Tropical Island Ecology, John Agard, will present his Professorial Inaugural Lecture, titled "Environment in Development: From Plantation Economy, Biodiversity Loss and Global Warming Towards Sustainable Development," on Thursday 25^th February, 2010, at 5.30pm, at the Learning Resource Centre.

Abstract:

It is argued that the prevailing Best-Levitt Plantation Economy Model of Caribbean economic structures and characteristics can be further elaborated by the inclusion of the environment as a provider of ecosystem services.  In the Plantation Economy Model the relationship between the outside world and the plantation is characterised by the distinction between a metropole and a hinterland of exploitation. The hinterland of exploitation we suggest includes not only people and mineral resources but living nature and its services as well. This new eco-industrial characterisation of development could be a transition phase to a more sustainable development model. Examples  of approaches to mainstreaming environmental considerations into development and planning decisions at global, regional and local levels will be provided. These range from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the 4^th Assessment of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change and UNEP's Global Environmental Outlook to EMA's Certificate of Environmental Clearance Rules, as well as the Nariva Swamp Restoration and Carbon Sequestration Project.

About John Agard

John B. R. Agard is Professor of Tropical Island Ecology and Head of the Department of Life Sciences at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Trinidad and Tobago. He is a former Chairman of the Environmental Management Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (EMA). Professor Agard’s academic research and professional service are mainly directed at defining the role and value of biodiversity and ecosystem services to human well-being and sustainable development in small island developing states.  He holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry and Zoology from The UWI, a M.Sc. in Pollution and Environmental Control from the University of Manchester, UK and a Ph.D. from The UWI. He has tried to contribute to mainstreaming environmental sustainability in development at international, regional and local levels.

At the international level, he has interfaced his scientific knowledge with his practical experience through participation as a Lead Author in major global integrated environmental assessment exercises. These include the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) published in 2005, the UNEP Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-4) 2007 and the Fourth Assessment Report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007. The MA authors received the Zayed Prize for the Environment while the IPCC and Al Gore shared the 2007 Noble Peace Prize. He is currently a Lead Author in the European Union sponsored global assessment of “The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity” (TEEB) project. Professor Agard also serves as a member of the US-based, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Independent Advisory Group on Sustainability.

At the regional level, he is a member of the Caribbean Sea Commission formed by the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) to advance the cause of integrated management of the Caribbean Sea. He also serves as a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Regional Task Force on Climate Change. Professor Agard is a member of the Science Committee of the Iwokrama International Centre for Development and Rainforest Conservation (IIC), Guyana.

At the local level, Professor Agard’s strategy is to promote the integration of environment in development and to collaborate with a widening circle of collaborators including Government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), Industry and young people. In this way, he has been directly involved in applying science in the public domain via the creation of environmental policy, laws and systems as a former Chairman of the Environmental Management Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. He has also had a direct input into national development planning as Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Environment, of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago’s Vision 2020 project, where his responsibility was to formulate a strategic development plan for Trinidad and Tobago.