France’s highest national order and distinction awarded to Prof. Mohan Munasinghe

Jean-Marin Schuh, Ambassador of France to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, bestowed the honorary distinction of Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honour), upon Prof. Mohan Munasinghe at the French Ambassador’s residence.

The Légion d’Honneur is the first and highest national order and distinction of the French Republic, coming directly under the purview of the President of France. 

Prof. Munasinghe is a leading world authority on sustainable development, economics, energy and environment. He has graduated from top global universities, and taught as a visiting professor at leading universities worldwide. He has served on many occasions as expert advisor/consultant to world bodies, including many UN agencies, the World Bank and the ECC to name a few, or as honorary senior advisor to the Sri Lankan Government.

He funded the Munasinghe Institute for Development (MIND), which continues to actively contribute to inspiring and empowering young generations to continue working on sustainable development.

Prof. Munasinghe has previously been awarded many international prizes and medals for public service, research and applications, including the prestigious 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared as Vice Chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change”.

His research and applications have contributed to the success of the COP21 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, in December 2015. He has in particular been of great help to France in helping mobilise public opinion in Sri Lanka and throughout the world, in the framework of the Paris agreement preparation.

The honorary distinction of Officier de la Légion d’Honneur comes to acknowledge Prof. Munasinghe’s action to strengthen ties between Sri Lanka and France, and his unfailing support to France in its endeavour to combat climate change and promote sustainable development, specifically in preparing the Sri-Lankan public in the run-up to COP21.