Earth Today | ‘He let science speak’ - Prof John Agard hailed for contributions to climate scholarship, leadership

TRAILBLAZER, SCHOLAR, teacher, leader, mentor are among the descriptors for Prof John Agard who died recently at the age of 71. However, while his passing marked the end of an extraordinary career, it has not marked the end of his influence.

As condolences continue to pour in, Jamaican stakeholders in the climate change and environment space acknowledge him as a leading Caribbean scientist, one who was generous with his time and knowledge and who made science speak, influencing countless young professionals whose careers he helped to shape, instilling confidence and inspiring best efforts that have served the sustainable development interest of the region.

“Prof Agard left an outstanding legacy. He certainly imprinted his superior intellect, and, I think, the rigorous application of science to enhancing the quality of life through environmental investigation, protection and management. He believed in improving planet Earth, leaving it a better place, and he worked to make that happen,” said Eleanor Jones, head of the consultancy firm, Environmental Solutions Limited, who served with him in various University of the West Indies (UWI) fora and on regional panels.

“Here is a Caribbean man who has outdone himself and has left us with an amazing sense of true scholarship and commitment to the human condition,” she added.

A professor of tropical island ecology, Agard, a Trinidadian, had research interest in sustainability science that involved mainstreaming environmental considerations such as pollution, biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation, as well as climate change impacts and adaptation into the core of policy and national decision-making. 

He was a lead author of the UN Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change 4th and 5th assessments and served as an independent advisor on environment and sustainability policy to the Board of the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC. 

He also served as a member of the CARICOM Climate Change Task Force and chairman of the Environmental Management Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, overseeing the development of the National Environmental Policy and several pieces of subsidiary legislation, including the Certificate of Environmental Clearance, the Water Pollution Rules, and the Noise Pollution Rules.

Agard was, too, a member of the CARICOM advisory group on the Samoa Pathway for SIDS, was a coordinating lead author of the Intergovernmental (Science-Policy) Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and was on the Scientific Advisory Panel of UNEP for the Global Environmental Outlook 6.

“I am deeply, deeply saddened to hear that he has passed. He has played a pivotal role in climate change advocacy and action in the region and, overall, for environmental conservation. I have always admired his calm demeanour and his patient style of imparting information. Whatever scientific studies were done, he took his time to explain it in simple ways for the average person to understand. He was a very caring, approachable person. The region has suffered a significant loss with his passing,” said Indi Mclymont-Lafayette, a communications professional who has been involved in climate change and the environment advocacy.

“I am thankful for the body of work that he has left. I would say his legacy is to let the science speak. He was a part of the pioneering scientists who took on the challenge of building climate models, and studies in the region when nobody else was paying it any attention. He, along with Prof Michael Taylor, put Caribbean climate change science on the map and he put in the groundwork to ensure that that science was respected internationally,” she added.

For Prof Taylor, himself a celebrated climate scientist and with his own earned reputation of enabling science to speak, Agard was a “wonderful human being, brilliant mind, regional asset, and UWI man”.

“It would be fair to say that Prof Agard has laid a standard for what to expect from Caribbean scientists providing leadership at the global level. The expectation is for leadership marked by competency, insightfulness, effective delegation, an ability to communicate, and, importantly, inclusivity,” he shared with The Gleaner.

As for his scholarship, Taylor said it has been “foundational and instrumental for the study of tropical ecology”, providing a “solid platform for the study of small island ecology, the blue economy, and the value of ecosystem services”. 

“Importantly, he has not only put regional science on the map through his own work, but he has been a strong advocate for the inclusion of regional science issues in the global scientific landscape. It is in part his advocacy, along with colleagues, that has seen the ambitions of small island states reflected in future global warming targets, for example, 1.5 to Stay Alive,” he said.

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