WE, the members of the Justices of the Peace and Commissioners of Oaths to Affidavits Association (JP&COA) do heartily congratulate his Excellency President Bharrat Jagdeo on the receipt of UNEP Champion of the Earth Award for 2010. As stated by the Dalai Lama quote, “It is our collective and individual responsibility to protect and nurture the global family to support its weaker members and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live.”
We all appreciate the untiring efforts the President displayed and his outstanding international leadership on measures to combat climate change and the pioneering model on low carbon economic development.
The award was presented at the 4th Annual Business for Environment (B4E) Global Summit and the United Nations Environment Programme Champions of the Earth sola awards event in Seoul, South Korea recently.
He was among six persons who received this award along with a prize of US$40,000. As a true leader of Guyana, a country in the Amazon region, he has donated all the prize money to the local Amerindian communities.
Congratulations were also received by the President from prominent persons around the world, including Lord Nicholas Stern, who is widely credited with changing global understanding of the economic impact of climate change.
The Champions of the Earth Award for the President comes on the heels of other significant recognition of President Jagdeo’s pioneering and aggressive policies on sustainable economic growth through Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
The Champions of the Earth is an international environment award given out every year by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award recognises individuals who embody commitment and vision towards environment leadership through their action and their influence. To date, the award has recognised 34 outstanding environmental leaders.
Once again, we congratulate and support our President for showing such leadership and commitment in promoting and expounding the Green Economy for the benefit of all future generation of Guyanese and the world at large.