Jagdeo’s Legacy and Guyana’s Development — Dr. Josh Kanhai — Opinion

Jagdeo’s Legacy and Guyana’s Development

October 25, 2026·6 min read

Dear Editor,

There is a difference between holding a government accountable and attempting to discredit an entire political movement by selectively presenting history.

Hadiyyah Mohamed’s article, “Jagdeo’s Political Desperation and the PPP’s Fear of a Changing Guyana,” makes sweeping assertions about Vice-president, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and the PPP/C.^[1] Yet, in its determination to predict their political demise, it gives insufficient weight to the economic, social and infrastructural transformation Guyana has experienced over the past three decades.

Guyana deserves political debate grounded in facts, historical context and a fair assessment of the national record.

Let me state my position clearly: I support the development agenda of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, and I believe that Dr Bharrat Jagdeo’s contribution to Guyana’s development deserves serious recognition.

This support is not a claim that any government is beyond criticism. It is a recognition that leadership must be assessed in the context of what a country inherited, what it achieved and what it is working to accomplish.

The attempt to portray Jagdeo as a politician whose legacy has been shattered does not adequately account for the Guyana that existed when the PPP/C returned to office in 1992, the reforms and investments that followed, or the extraordinary development opportunities that Guyana now possesses.

Here are a few schooling topics with broad headings to simplify the context for you. They are as follows:

The journey from HIPC to a country with global economic significance

Perhaps the most important omission in the article is the historical and economic context of Guyana’s transformation.

When the PPP/C returned to office in 1992, Guyana faced severe economic constraints, a heavy external debt burden, limited fiscal room and substantial deficiencies in infrastructure and public services.

The country had endured years of economic contraction and had struggled to meet its international financial obligations.

Guyana subsequently participated in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative, commonly known as HIPC, through which it received substantial international debt relief.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank documented approximately US$256.4 million in net-present-value debt relief under the original HIPC framework and a further US$334.5 million under the enhanced framework.^[2]

These arrangements were linked to economic reforms, poverty-reduction measures and efforts to strengthen public services.

Those figures are not campaign slogans. They are part of Guyana’s documented economic history.

Debt relief did not happen in isolation, and it would be inaccurate to attribute every improvement to one party or one individual. Earlier economic reforms, international partnerships, domestic policy decisions and the contributions of Guyanese workers and businesses all formed part of the process.

Nevertheless, successive PPP/C administrations played an important role in managing the recovery, securing debt relief and directing resources toward national development.

In 2016, the World Bank reclassified Guyana from a lower-middle-income economy to an upper-middle-income economy.^[3] Following the emergence of commercial oil production in late 2019, the country’s economic trajectory changed dramatically, and Guyana subsequently attained high-income classification under the World Bank’s income criteria in 2023.

The distinction matters: HIPC was a debt-relief initiative, not an income classification. Guyana’s graduation from the HIPC process and its later rise in income classification were separate milestones in a much longer economic journey.

Oil has accelerated the transformation, but the foundations of modern Guyana were not laid overnight. The country’s economic recovery, institutional reforms, infrastructure investments and development planning predate first oil.

The honest question is not whether Guyana has reached perfection. It has not. The question is whether the country has advanced considerably from the circumstances it faced three decades ago. The historical and economic evidence makes that case compelling.

Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and the importance of long-term vision

During his presidency from 1999 to 2011, Dr. Jagdeo presided over a period in which Guyana pursued economic modernization, infrastructure development, social investment and international environmental leadership.

His administration advanced the Low Carbon Development Strategy in 2009, an initiative that sought to demonstrate that a country could pursue economic development while preserving its forests and earning international support for their environmental value.^[4]

The United Nations Environment Programme subsequently recognized Jagdeo as a Champion of the Earth for his policy leadership on environmental issues.^[5]

The Guyana-Norway partnership that emerged from this approach generated payments for forest conservation and helped support projects involving climate adaptation, Amerindian communities and sustainable development.

This was not simply an environmental exercise. It was an attempt to position Guyana strategically in a changing global economy and to establish that the country’s forests had economic value beyond the timber and other resources they contained.

That vision continues through the evolution of the Low Carbon Development Strategy into LCDS 2030.

One may disagree with particular policies or demand stronger accountability for their implementation. But a serious assessment of Jagdeo’s legacy cannot reasonably omit this contribution to Guyana’s international standing and development planning.

Housing: Turning land ownership into opportunity

Housing is another major part of the PPP/C’s development record. Successive administrations expanded residential development, distributed house lots, constructed supporting infrastructure and created opportunities for families to build homes.

The expansion of housing communities along the East Bank Demerara corridor, including the wider Eccles-Diamond development areas, illustrates how residential planning and transport infrastructure have increasingly become connected.

For an ordinary Guyanese family, access to land can mean the difference between a lifetime of renting and the opportunity to establish a permanent home.

House lots alone are not enough. Communities require proper roads, drainage, electricity, water and access to schools and healthcare. Those supporting investments must continue to keep pace with population growth.

Nevertheless, housing and land distribution have been important features of the PPP/C’s development programme, and they deserve recognition in any balanced assessment of the party’s record.

Education: Building human capital

Guyana’s development cannot be measured by bridges, highways and oil production alone. It must also be measured by whether children have access to education and whether young people can acquire the skills needed to participate in a modern economy.

Over successive administrations, public investment has supported school construction and rehabilitation, educational access, school feeding, student support and improvements to educational infrastructure.

The University of Guyana’s campuses at Turkeyen and Tain have served generations of students. More recent investments have expanded educational infrastructure across the country, including in hinterland communities.

The PPP/C’s education agenda has also included programmes intended to ease the financial burden on families and improve students’ access to learning materials and opportunities.

Of course, questions remain about school conditions, teacher availability, learning outcomes and the quality of educational delivery. Those questions must be addressed through better planning, monitoring and investment.

But it would be unreasonable to discuss Guyana’s development while ignoring the expansion of educational opportunities and the importance of continued investment in human capital.

Healthcare: Expanding the capacity to care for Guyanese

Healthcare development has also formed a major part of the national investment programme.

Guyana’s public health system has undergone successive programmes of hospital construction, rehabilitation, equipment upgrades and service expansion. More recent investments include new and modernised hospitals intended to improve access to medical services and reduce the burden on existing facilities.

The national healthcare challenge remains substantial. Guyana needs more trained professionals, stronger regional services, better patient management and improved access to specialist treatment.

However, the appropriate response is to identify deficiencies and strengthen the system, not to dismiss decades of investment.

A government’s record must include both what has been built and what remains to be done.

Infrastructure: The transformation is visible

One of the clearest ways to evaluate a development programme is to examine the physical infrastructure it leaves behind.

Under successive PPP/C administrations, Guyana has invested in roads, bridges, highways, drainage and irrigation, sea defences, water systems, airports and other public infrastructure.

The Berbice River Bridge improved connectivity between the eastern and western banks of the Berbice River. The Cheddi Jagan International Airport modernisation programme sought to strengthen Guyana’s international connectivity.

More recently, the infrastructure programme has expanded significantly.

Among the major projects completed or advanced in the current development period are:

The Ogle-Eccles Highway.
The Mandela-Eccles Highway.
The Eccles-Great Diamond Highway, commonly associated with the Heroes Highway.
The Schoonord-Crane four-lane highway.
The expansion of Cemetery Road.
Improvements to the Conversation Tree junction and surrounding road network.
The Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge, commissioned in October 2025.^[6]

The new Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge is particularly significant. It provides a modern, four-lane crossing with a high clearance that allows vessels to pass while improving road connectivity between Regions Three and Four.

The bridge is expected to support commuters, commerce, construction, logistics and future industrial development. Its importance extends beyond the immediate reduction in travel delays: it strengthens the transport corridor linking communities and economic activity on both sides of the Demerara River.

Other major works include the Linden-Mabura Road project, the Palmyra-Moleson Creek highway corridor, the Soesdyke-Linden Highway programme and plans for a new Wismar-Mackenzie Bridge.

These projects should be judged on their cost, quality, delivery and long-term economic value. But their existence is a matter of public record.

They are part of a national infrastructural programme that aims to improve mobility, support investment and prepare Guyana for a larger and more diversified economy.

Yours faithfully,
Dr. Josh Kanhai, MBBS, PGDip

References

Jagdeo’s overtures to APNU may represent revealing moment in Guyana’s political evolution ↩
Press Release: IMF and World Bank Support US$334 Million Additional Debt Relief for Guyana — www.imf.org ↩
Guyana now rated as upper middle class economy …according to World Bank 2016 classification - Kaieteur News — kaieteurnewsonline.com ↩
Guyana's Low-Carbon Development Strategy: Statement by Ambassador Odeen Ishmael of Guyana at the Symposium of the Americas on Energy and Climate - Lima, Peru, 16 June 2009 — www.guyananews.org ↩
UN gives President Jagdeo ‘Champion of the Earth’ award - Kaieteur News — kaieteurnewsonline.com ↩
President Ali commissions new Bharrat Jagdeo Demerara River Bridge – Department of Public Information, Guyana — dpi.gov.gy ↩

Jagdeo’s overtures to APNU may represent revealing moment in Guyana’s political evolution

Hadiyyah Mohamed

Press Release: IMF and World Bank Support US$334 Million Additional Debt Relief for Guyana

www.imf.org · Dec 19, 2003

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) have agreed that Guyana has taken the steps necessary to reach its completion point under the enhanced framework of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. Guyana becomes the ninth country to reach this point, joining Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Benin. 1 Debt relief under the enhanced HIPC Initiative from all of Guyana's creditors amounts to US$334.5 million in net present value (NPV 2) terms. This estimate has been adjusted upward by US$5.9 million from the calculation made at the time of the decision point in November 2000, on account of new information from non-Paris Club and commercial creditors and new calculations. This relief comes in addition to US$256.4 million in NPV that Guyana received when it reached the completion point under the original HIPC framework in May 1999. The total debt relief under the original and enhanced HIPC Initiatives reduces the debt stock (after traditional debt relief) by 54 percent, based on cumulating both relief totals at end 2002. ... Multilateral creditors are to provide debt relief amounting to US$202 million in NPV terms, which includes US$40 million from the IMF and US$41.2 million from the World Bank. Bilateral creditors are expected to provide relief amounting to US$132 million. Guyana has negotiated a debt rescheduling agreement with the Paris Club on Cologne terms (a debt reduction of 90 percent) and a number of Paris Club creditors have indicated that they would provide debt relief beyond that required under the HIPC Initiative. Approximately US$37 million in NPV of Guyana's debt relief is expected to be delivered by non-Paris Club and commercial creditors. Progress has been made, albeit slowly, in establishing agreement with a few of these creditors, and the Guyanese authorities will continue their efforts to obtain comparable treatment from them. ... , ... countries ... , ... Upon reaching its decision point under the enhanced framework of the HIPC Initiative in November 2000, Guyana committed to undertake work in the following areas in order to reach the completion point and receive irrevocable debt relief under the enhanced framework: (i) Completion of a full PRSP and implementation of the poverty reduction strategy (ii) Continued implementation of strong macroeconomic and structural policies supported by an IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) program and an IDA Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC), under both of which funds were disbursed in recent months; and, (iii) Implementation of a set of social, structural, and institutional reforms. ... 2. The HIPC Initiative In 1996, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund launched the HIPC Initiative to create a framework for all creditors, including multilateral creditors, to provide debt relief to the world's poorest and most heavily indebted countries, and thereby reduce the constraint on economic growth and poverty reduction imposed by the debt build-up in these countries. The Initiative was modified in 1999 to provide three key enhancements: • Deeper and Broader Relief. External debt thresholds were lowered from the original framework. As a result, more countries became eligible for debt relief and some countries became eligible for greater relief. • Faster Relief. A number of creditors began to provide interim debt relief immediately at the "decision point." Also, the new framework permitted countries to reach the "completion point" faster. • Stronger Link Between Debt Relief and Poverty Reduction. Freed resources were to be used to support poverty reduction strategies developed by national governments through a broad consultative process. ... To date, 26 countries 3 —two-thirds of the HIPCs—have reached their "decision points" and are receiving debt relief from all sources that will amount to more than US$40 billion over time, and an average NPV stock-of-debt reduction of nearly two-thirds. ... Of ... 6, nine countries—Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Guyana, Mauritania, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda—have now reached their completion points. ... 1 The completion point under the HIPC Initiative is when creditors commit irrevocably to debt relief. The decision point, which precedes the completion point, is when debt relief is committed and begins on an interim basis. 2 The Net Present Value (NPV) of debt is the discounted sum of all future debt-service obligations (interest and principal). It is a measure that takes into account the degree of concessionality of a country's debt stock. Whenever the interest rate on a loan is lower than the market rate, the resulting NPV of debt is smaller than its face value, with the difference reflecting the grant element.

Source

Jagdeo’s Legacy and Guyana’s Development in Guyana Chronicle, October 25, 2026

Guyana now rated as upper middle class economy …according to World Bank 2016 classification - Kaieteur News

kaieteurnewsonline.com · Jul 20, 2016

The World Bank 2016 classification has Guyana reaching upper middle income status for the first time By Jarryl Bryan In the wake of the discovery of further oil reserves in the Liz- 2 well, Guyana has moved from a lower middle income into the upper middle income classification. This is according to the World Bank, as of July 2016, after doing its annual revision of the world’s economies. Each year, the World Bank conducts an analysis of countries around the world, by using their Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. Low income economies are those with a GNI per capita of US$1,025 or less in 2015. Lower middle income economies are those with a GNI per capita of between US$1,026 and US$4,035. Upper middle income economies are the ones with between US$4,036 and US$12,475, while high income economies are the ones with a GNI per capita of US$12,476 or more. Guyana’s basic minimum wage is $50,000 (US$250) or $600,000 (US$3000) per annum. Currently, its income tax threshold is $660,000 (US$3,248) per annum. While this change places Guyana in an enhanced standing on the world stage and is an indicator of growth, it will also mean a change in Guyana’s eligibility to access loans from the World Bank. Guyana is now on par with its oil-producing neighbour Venezuela, which has fallen in the latest World Bank statistics from a high income to an upper middle income classification. Venezuela has recently been in the throes of an economic crisis which has seen riots and street violence over food shortages. Equatorial Guinea has also fallen from its perch as a high income economy to an upper middle income one. Georgia, once part of the Russian Empire, has also jumped from a lower middle income to an upper middle income economy. Last year ExxonMobil (which drilled the Liz- 2 well), made a deepwater discovery of oil in the Stabroek Block, located around 120 miles offshore Guyana. In the wake of the impending multibillion oil sector, there has been a rush to put measures in place. For instance, the administration is looking at countries with Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) mechanisms in place. This is with a view of managing the revenue Guyana will get from the oil. In addition, the Ministry of Education announced that a Petroleum Engineering course would be added to the University of Guyana curriculum. In addition, gold production has been on the rise. Minister of Finance Winston Jordan had recently credited this to the productive output from small and medium scale miners, in addition to large companies like Guyana Goldfields and Troy Resources. The Finance Minister had revealed that gold production for April amounted to 60,558 ounces, compared with 36,629 ounces achieved in April of last year. According to Jordan, gold production thus amounted to 222,500 ounces from January to April 2016, representing an increase of 104.8 percent for the corresponding period in 2015. Meanwhile sugar production for January to April 2016 totaled 55,687 tonnes, compared to 67,555 tonnes achieved for the corresponding period in 2015, a 17.6 percent decline. Guyana’s sugar export market is under threat from a major quarter, however, as the European Union (EU) took a decision back in 2013 to phase out the sugar quota system with the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Group of states by next year. The country’s rice production from January to April, 2016 registered 205,208 tonnes, compared to 303,314 tonnes produced during the same period last year.

Guyana's Low-Carbon Development Strategy: Statement by Ambassador Odeen Ishmael of Guyana at the Symposium of the Americas on Energy and Climate - Lima, Peru, 16 June 2009

www.guyananews.org · Jun 16, 2009

Guyana's Low-Carbon Development Strategy: Statement by Ambassador Odeen Ishmael of Guyana at the Symposium of the Americas on Energy and Climate - Lima, Peru, 16 June 2009 Guyana's Low-Carbon Development Strategy: Statement by Ambassador Odeen Ishmael of Guyana at the Symposium of the Americas on Energy and Climate Lima, Peru, 16 June 2009 Posted June 18th. 2009 - Spanish Version ... Mr. ... , Members ... the Panel, ... . ... But I want to focus attention on the issue of climate change as it relates to forest conservation and sustainable development of our rainforest and the Low-Carbon Development Strategy Guyana intends to implement. Just a week ago, President Bharrat Jagdeo presented a draft of this plan at a public forum, and over the next three months, there will be country-wide consultations through which individuals, groups, and various organisations will provide their comments and proposals to assist in constructing the final action programme to be implemented. ... Since 2006 the Government of Guyana has been calling for bold action by rainforest nations and international partners to address deforestation. The Guyana government has constantly stated that if the right economic incentives are created, Guyana would be willing to consider placing almost its entire rainforest under internationally verifiable protection, providing that national sovereignty and the rights of all Guyanese are not undermined. ... Guyana's pristine forests are its most valuable asset - the majority of the 15 million hectare rainforest is suitable for timber extraction and post-harvest agriculture, and significant mineral deposits exist below its surface. The value of this forest - known as "Economic Value to the Nation" or EVN - is estimated to be the equivalent of an annual annuity payment of US$580 million. ... the ... ideas of protecting rainforests ... economically ... as a crucial challenge that must be addressed ... make ... worth more alive than ... . ... There is increasing global recognition of the fact that protecting forests is essential to the fight against the detrimental effects of climate change. But transferring such recognition to direct action remains lethargic. However, through its Low-Carbon Development Strategy, Guyana intends to implement this action to create a low-deforestation, low-carbon climate-resilient economy. In fact, I venture to say that what Guyana intends to do has never yet been tried anywhere else. Under this development strategy, with the right low-deforestation economic incentives, Guyana will by 2020 avoid emissions of 1.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that would have been produced by an otherwise economically realistic development path. Some of these incentives are expected to be generated through interim forestry payments from Guyana's partnership with the Norwegian Government and other sources, and the United Nation's Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) programme. These payments can enable Guyana's economy to be placed on a low-carbon development path. By moving in this direction, Guyana can generate economic growth, while at the same time removing approximately 30 percent of non-forestry emissions through the use of clean energy. But to achieve this economic growth, Guyana must invest in strategic low carbon economic infrastructure, such as a medium-sized hydro electric plant, construction of which should begin next year. This could deliver energy security by meeting all of the country's domestic power needs for the foreseeable future. Worthy of note is that fuel imports currently cost approximately 35 percent of GDP. There must also be improved access to unused, non-forested land and improved fibre optic bandwidth to facilitate the development of low-carbon business activities, as well as greater foreign and local investment in sectors such as fruits and vegetables, aquaculture, sustainable forestry and wood processing, and ecotourism. This plan will also expand access to services and new economic opportunity for the indigenous Amerindians through improved social services, (including health and education), low-carbon energy sources, clean water and employment, which does not threaten the forest. It will also entail mitigation programmes to protect productive land from changing weather patterns. As such, investments in priority climate adaptation infrastructure can reduce the estimated 10 percent of current GDP which is lost each year as a result of flooding. An administrative structure will be set up to aid in the implementation process. This includes the Office of Climate Change (to coordinate all climate-related activities for the nation), a Low Carbon Strategy Project Management Office (to drive major low-carbon programme priorities) and a Guyana Low-Carbon Finance Authority (to manage forest payments and related investment flows into the country and promote investment efficiency to the benefit of Guyana's economy). In addition, safeguards and systems will be developed to ensure the continuing protection of Guyana's tropical rainforests through globally-verified forest and other land use governance standards, and transparent, accountable deployment of forest payments ... At present the Low-Carbon Development strategy seeks support to protect Guyana's state forest (which does not include forest under Amerindian jurisdiction). The indigenous Amerindians make up approximately 9 percent of the population and they own roughly 14 percent of the land. In the corning years, forest-based Amerindians will have a choice to put their forests into a forest compensation programme (side by side with the state forest). ... As can be understood, there is a cost factor linked to the application of this Low-Carbon development strategy. It calls for an expenditure of at least US$1 billion to address long term climate adaptation requirements, and for a country with a population of less than 800,000, this is indeed a hefty sum. ... The Guyana government has already been receiving cooperation from the Government of Norway in developing a model of how to assess the carbon impact of current forestry practices and to quickly implement policies to avoid deforestation. In February 2009, the two governments announced a partnership to support the creation of low-carbon employment and investment opportunities in Guyana's sustained efforts to avoid deforestation and forest degradation, strengthening transparent forest governance, and establishing an international monitoring, reporting, and verification system for Guyana's forests. Under this partnership, a financial mechanism run by a reputable international organisation will be established through which performance-based compensation can be channelled to support the development of Guyana's low-carbon development strategy.

UN gives President Jagdeo ‘Champion of the Earth’ award - Kaieteur News

kaieteurnewsonline.com · Apr 23, 2010

President Bharrat Jagdeo is among six winners from government, science, business and entertainment to be awarded this year’s United Nations Champions of the Earth prize for their leadership in environmental conservation. The winners, announced by Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary-General and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director, also include Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed, an international climate change campaigner. The UN called Jagdeo “a passionate forestry and ecosystem infrastructure proponent.” He won the Special Award for Biodiversity Conservation and Eco System Management. Accepting the award yesterday in Seoul in the Republic of Korea, President Jagdeo said he was deeply honoured to accept the award, but interpreted it is as an endorsement of the people of Guyana’s longstanding efforts to help change the way the world values scarce natural resources. He said for years, the people of Guyana have demonstrated real commitment to the preservation of nature and biodiversity, most notably as it relates to the country’s still largely intact tropical rainforest. “But they have also struggled against the global economic reality that long term national development and protecting nature are frequently competing, not complementary, objectives,” Jagdeo noted. Without changing this reality, the world will fail to reverse today’s dangerous trends of climate change and biodiversity destruction, the President declared. He said despite the very valuable efforts of many – and years of well meaning philanthropy – much of the world’s biodiversity has been lost and more than half of the world’s tropical forests have been lost in the last 60 years. “I believe that this is because for too long, we focused on stopping the consequences of biodiversity loss, rather than addressing its drivers. “In Guyana, we didn’t want to just despair – we wanted to prove that it is possible to change this economic reality. And the emerging climate change agenda’s recognition of the importance of forests as an abatement solution provided us with an opportunity to maybe start changing things.” He referred to the decision to put virtually all of the country’s rainforest under long term protection if the right economic incentives were created and use the payments received for forest services to re-orient the economy into a low carbon, environmentally sound trajectory. “Now, we are putting these ideas into practice. The Government of Norway is the first international partner to value some of the ecosystem services provided by Guyana’s forest, and to start paying for them,” he stated. He said Guyana is about to start investing those payments in the new economy. “Over the next five years, we will remove virtually our entire energy sector from fossil fuel dependence, and we will catalyze new economic sectors to provide our indigenous and other forest communities – as well as citizens across the country – with valuable economic alternatives that do not put pressure on our forests.” He said by extension, a sustainable international economy is also possible, with many other forest countries willing to step up. “If their efforts are supported by progressive international policies – where developed countries move their economies onto a sustainable path at the same time as helping developing countries who aim to do likewise – I believe that we can build out from national experiences such as ours; protect forests and by extension preserve biodiversity; unleash the biggest wave of green innovation the world has ever seen; and create real benefits and opportunities for people across the world today and for generations to come.” Afghanistan’s Director General of the National Environmental Protection Agency and sustainability advocate, Prince Mostapha Zaher, and Japanese earth scientist and pioneer of research into how the oceans cycle carbon, Taro Takahashi, are also on the winners’ list. Chinese actress Zhou Xun received the award for her reputation as a green lifestyle guru. Through her “tips for green living” initiative, Ms. Xun encourages people to reduce their carbon print through simple changes in lifestyle. United States venture capitalist and Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla was recognized for his efforts as a green energy entrepreneur. In September 2009, Mr. Khosla’s venture capital firm announced it had raised $1.1 billion for a “green fund” that would be used to spur development of renewable energy and other clean technologies. The trophies were presented at a gala event in Seoul to mark International Mother Earth Day, in conjunction with the Business for the Environment Global Summit in the capital of the Republic of Korea, which is being attended by more than 1,000 representatives from business, government, and civil society. “The six winners represent some of the key pillars upon which society can build green growth and a development path to unite rather than divide six billion people,” said Mr. Steiner. The Champions of the Earth, an international environment award established in 2004, recognizes achievements in areas of entrepreneurial vision, policy and leadership, science and innovation, inspiration and action. The year’s awards had a special category for biodiversity and ecosystems management. To date, the award has recognized 34 outstanding environmental leaders.