Campus Principal Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine has issued congratulations to Professor Michelle Mycoo, a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was declared a co-laureate of the 2022 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, together with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
“This is wonderful news, and a tremendous achievement by you and your colleagues. It reinforces what I truly believe – that the St Augustine campus of The UWI has colleagues of the highest worth who can compare and even surpass their peers on the international stage, and who are making meaningful contributions in every facet of our lives. I am very proud. Congratulations,” she said.
Professor Mycoo, a Professor of Urban and Regional Planning in the Faculty of Engineering shared that “it took a tremendous amount of hard work, discipline and leadership as the Coordinating Lead Author of the Small Islands chapter of the IPCC Working Group II Report”.
She added, “I am most humbled by this award as an IPCC scientist, and grateful to the team of authors who contributed to the global report, including scholars from The University of the West Indies and UWI alumni.”
The Jury of the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, led by former German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel, selected the IPCC and IPBES out of 116 nominations from 41 countries, in recognition of “the role of science on the front line of tackling climate change and the loss of biodiversity”.
IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee received the award “on behalf of IPCC scientists who deliver the most up-to-date and robust climate change knowledge to the world’s policymakers”.
Lee said, “science is our most powerful instrument to tackle climate change, a clear and imminent threat to our wellbeing and livelihoods, the wellbeing of our planet and all of its species. For IPCC scientists, this prize is an important recognition and encouragement. For the decision-makers, it is another push for more decisive climate action.”
The prize was launched by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 2020 with the objective of distinguishing those persons and organisations from around the world whose work has greatly contributed to mitigating the impacts of climate change. It comes with a generous purse of one million euros.
