Peter Thomson to be honorary doctor

Ambassador Peter Thomson from Fiji has been made an honorary doctor at the University of Bergen. He is one of nine new honorary PhDs at the university and one of two conferred directly by the university's Rectorate. There will be a special honorary doctorate ceremony on 15 October 2019.

“Obviously I am deeply honoured. I have great respect for the University of Bergen, which is one of the great universities of the world when it comes to marine science,” says Ambassador Thomson on being asked to become an honorary doctor at the university, “deeply humbled and look forward to being a representative of the University of Bergen forward with that honorary PhD.”

He is the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, working for the global mobilisation of action for Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14): Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. In his work he has shown himself to be a strong advocate for the roles of science and universities in contributing to sustainable development and global diplomacy.

Born and raised in Fiji and receiving his higher education in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, Thomson had a long career in government, rural development, business and diplomacy at home in Fiji as well as in New Zealand, Australia and globally before taking up the post as Fiji’s Ambassador to the United Nations in 2010.

In this capacity Thomson was a central representative for the developing world in the process of creating the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. In 2016-2017 he was the 71^st President of the UN General Assembly, and in 2017 he organised the UN Ocean Conference. While President of the General Assembly, he actively called on the close involvement of universities worldwide for their engagement in global partnerships for sustainable development, an effort he has further developed in his work as Special Envoy for the Ocean.