The  International  Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) on Friday announced that former President Bharrat Jagdeo is to take on two roles within the organisation – IUCN High Level Envoy for Sustainable Development in Forest Countries and IUCN Patron of Nature.
IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefevre said: “I am delighted to welcome President Jagdeo into the IUCN family. For many years, he has been a powerful and articulate advocate for climate justice across the world, and he correctly identified a long time ago that developing countries can lead the way towards pragmatic solutions to big challenges. We very much look forward to partnering with President Jagdeo, and to drawing on his insights and knowledge.”

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo

Speaking of his new roles, the former president said: “The ideas and human energy that will solve many of today’s biggest global challenges will come from today’s developing world. In particular, forest countries and peoples will be to the fore of solving the inter-linked challenges around how we use our planet’s land – to feed the world; source the minerals needed for prosperous economies; preserve bio-diversity; avert climate catastrophe; and protect the rights and livelihoods of people who depend on forests. These are some of the biggest challenges in the world today. Working with IUCN, I hope that I can help to catalyse greater South-South innovation towards solutions, as well as support partnerships between forest nations and progressive countries and institutions from today’s industrialised world.”
The roles will be part-time, and they will be combined with Jagdeo’s work as Roving Ambassador for the Three Basins – the world’s three forest basins (Congo, Amazon, South East Asia), which resulted from a request made in June 2011 by heads of state and other leaders from all the world’s rainforest countries.
Current President Donald Ramotar welcomed the announcement and said: “All of Guyana should feel proud of how our former president continues to advocate for global climate justice. He was one of the first leaders in the world to grasp the scale of the climate change challenge – but he was also one of the first to articulate that developing countries could lead the way to solutions. Guyana has embarked on one of the world’s most ambitious low-carbon development strategies. We are maintaining 99.5 per cent of our forest in a way that aligns economic growth and socially inclusive development with action on climate change and environmental excellence. But far more than that – by 2016, we will also virtually eliminate our energy-related greenhouse gas emissions through a combination of solar power in every indigenous and forest-dependent home, and the Amaila Falls Hydro-Electricity plant.
“This scale of ambition is far greater than anything being contemplated by any developed country, where even the most progressive are only talking about a 40 per cent reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2020. It is living proof of President Jagdeo’s vision for a new development paradigm, where today’s developing countries lead the way to inclusive green growth – and we are pleased that his experience in Guyana will now be available to help our brothers and sisters across the developing world. I call on all Guyanese to join with me in congratulating our former president.”
 IUCN is an international organisation dedicated to finding “pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges.” The organisation supports scientific research; manages field projects all over the world; and brings governments, non-government organisations, United Nations agencies, companies and local communities together to develop and implement policy, laws and best practice. IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network – a democratic membership union with more than 1000 government and NGO member organisations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by more than 1000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO, and private sectors around the world. The union’s headquarters are located in Gland, near Geneva, Switzerland.
President Jagdeo was awarded the United Nations “Champion of the Earth” award in 2010. Time Magazine and CNN also named the president as one of their “Heroes of the Environment” in 2008. In early 2010, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asked President Jagdeo to serve on the Secretary General’s High Level Advisory Group on Climate Finance. Jagdeo is currently a member of the board of the South Korea based Global Green Growth Institute.