As a boy in Port of Spain, John Agard made toys from parts salvaged from old radios and household appliances. His family did not own a television until he was about 17, so he built engines, model planes, boats, and circuit boards. He also read and spent time outdoors. On weekends and holidays, his family sometimes stayed at government accommodation in remote parts of Trinidad. His father’s fondness for “bush and mud,” as Agard put it, became his own.
Agard, who died on June 19th, aged 71, became one of the Caribbean’s leading environmental scientists. His research covered marine ecology, pollution, biodiversity, and climate change. He was particularly interested in how scientific findings could be incorporated into laws, development plans, and decisions about protected areas.
He was born in 1955, the youngest of five children. His mother, Agnes, was a hairdresser; his father, Winston, worked in public administration. When Winston received a scholarship to study at the University of Manchester, Agnes encouraged him to accept it and supported the children while he was away. John later said that her response to hardship influenced him throughout his life. She looked for ways to overcome problems and did not dwell on the difficulty involved.
Agard studied at the University of the West Indies (UWI), earning a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate. He completed a master’s degree in pollution and environmental control at Manchester. In the mid-1980s, he joined Trinidad and Tobago’s Institute of Marine Affairs, where he conducted marine and ecological research. He later became professor of tropical island ecology at UWI’s St. Augustine campus and spent six years as head of its Department of Life Sciences.
His work examined the close connections among island ecosystems, economies, and human welfare. On small islands, damage to a reef, wetland, or watershed could affect fisheries, tourism, water supplies, and public health. Agard studied these relationships and sought ways to account for them in government policy.
As chairman of Trinidad and Tobago’s Environmental Management Authority for three terms between 1997 and 2008, he helped develop the country’s national environmental policy. He also worked on rules governing water pollution, noise, development approvals, environmentally sensitive areas, and threatened species. During this period, Matura National Park, Nariva Swamp, and the Aripo Savannas received legal protection.
Agard spent much of his career working with government officials and international institutions as well as other scientists. He believed research should help governments make practical decisions. This took him from university laboratories and classrooms into ministries, businesses, and international negotiations.
He contributed to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Environmental Outlook. He worked on several reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, including as a lead author of the small-islands chapter in its fourth assessment. The IPCC shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He also helped lead the Caribbean Sea Ecosystem Assessment and served as a coordinating lead author for the global biodiversity assessment produced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
In these assessments, Agard argued that the circumstances of small-island states required specific attention. Such countries had contributed little to global greenhouse-gas emissions, yet faced severe risks from rising seas, stronger storms, damaged reefs, and changing rainfall. Recognition of these risks could affect international decisions on climate finance and adaptation.
In 2020, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed him to the 15-member independent group of scientists preparing the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report. He was its only member from the Caribbean. Agard also advised the Inter-American Development Bank and worked with CARICOM and the Caribbean Sea Commission.
At UWI, his international responsibilities did not displace his teaching. A 2018 profile described him as speaking rapidly about his many projects, then taking more time when students came to see him. He wanted them to have the benefit of what he had learned so that they could begin their careers from a more advanced point. Colleagues and former students recalled his warmth, generosity, and willingness to provide guidance.
Agard once said that his passion was to make his country, his region, and the world better. He pursued that aim through the detailed work of research, teaching, legislation, and assessment. When global reports described the threats facing small islands, some of the evidence came from a Trinidadian scientist who had spent decades studying what those threats meant at home.
