Above: Bharrat Jagdeo

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Former Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo is set to take on two roles within the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Jagdeo, who was succeeded by Donald Ramotar after the country’s November election, has been named the IUCN’s High-Level Envoy for Sustainable Development in Forest Countries and as IUCN Patron of Nature.

“I am delighted to welcome President Jagdeo into the IUCN family,” said Director General Julia Marton Lefevre. “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.”

The roles will be part-time, combined with Jagdeo’s work as roving ambassador for the Three Basins. That position resulted from a request made in June 2011 by heads of state and other leaders from the world’s rainforest countries.

The Three Basins include the Congo, Amazon and South East Asia forest basins.

President Ramotar said the country’s current initiatives on climate change, from solar power in indigenous homes to hydro power, are “living proof” of Jagdeo’s vision for a “new development paradigm.”

The IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network.