PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) –  The University of the West Indies (UWI) has joined the international community in mourning the passing of Emeritus Professor John Agard.

Agard, a colossal figure on the environmental landscape for decades, was 71 when he died on Friday.

“He was a brilliant, innovative, enterprising person who gave so much to The UWI, his community and beyond. A giant in the intellectual world, especially in relation to the environment and climate change sciences, he was committed to sharing his knowledge and worked just as tirelessly as a mentor,” said Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal at the St Augustine Campus Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine.

He was a professor of Tropical Island Ecology, but his contributions were especially meaningful in the areas of sustainable development and climate change and he received global recognition.

Agard was instrumental in pushing for new laws in the twin island republic, such as the Certificate of Environmental Clearance Rules 2001, the Noise Pollution Rules 2001, and the Water Pollution Rules 2001, as well as signing into law subsidiary legislation designating new Parks and Protected Areas such as the Environmentally Sensitive Area (Matura Natural Park) 2004, the ESA Nariva Swamp (Managed Resource Protected Area) 2006 and the ESA Aripo Savannahs (Strict Scientific Reserve) 2007.

He also served as a lead author in several major publications, notably the Small Islands Chapter of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published by Cambridge University Press, for which they shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore.

He was also the lead author for the Small Island Systems and Scenarios chapters in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) published in 2005, which was awarded the Zayed Prize for the Environment. He also served as coordinating lead author of the Scenarios Chapter of the 2007 UNEP Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-4).

His service toward the protection of the environment is reflected in the number of initiatives with which he was involved.

He was a co-leader with the Cropper Foundation of the Caribbean Sea Assessment (CARSEA), published in 2007.

He was deeply involved in creating innovative environmental policy, laws and systems as Chairman of the Environmental Management Authority of Trinidad and Tobago and helped establish the nation’s National Environmental Policy.

Agard was a brilliant scientist, but above all else, he was fiercely committed to protecting the environment of the planet, once telling an interviewer that he “doesn’t sleep in pursuit of his crusade.”

He was conferred the title of professor emeritus in 2023 by the UWI.

READ: The UWI confers emeritus professor titles on Brian Copeland, John Agard

In his own words, he once explained, “My passion is to make the world a better place. To make my country a better place. To make my region a better place.”