the B4E Business for the Environment Global Summit. According to a press release by the United Nations Environment Programme, the award was in recognition of Nasheed's being "an articulate voice for the vulnerable and the poor facing the challenges of global warming and also a politician who is showcasing to the rest of the world how a transition to climate neutrality can be achieved and how all nations, no matter how big or how small, can contribute". That year, he was also named by Foreign Policy magazine in its list of top global thinkers. In March 2011 following his official visit to the Republic of Mauritius, he was decorated by President Sir Anerood Jugnauth and was awarded the highest distinct order of merit in the country, the Grand Commander of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean during the official lunch hosted by Jugnauth at the Château of Réduit. In a 2011 interview with The Guardian, British Prime Minister David Cameron described Nasheed as 'my new best friend' and said that he, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy and John Key would be the five world leaders Cameron would invite on his stag weekend. On 28 June 2012, Nasheed received the James Lawson Award from the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict at Tufts University in Massachusetts, US. The award was given to "recognize his leadership in opposing the long dictatorial regime that lasted before his election and to recognize his opposition to the armed coup earlier this year which forced him from power, and his renewed nonviolent action on behalf of restoring genuine democracy in his country". Bibliography References External links The Island President official website Free President Nasheed Climate Hero & Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed Gets UK Asylum After Ouster & Jailing, Interview on Democracy Now!, 3 June 2016 |- 1967 births Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by the Maldives Grand Commanders of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean Living people Maldivian democracy activists Maldivian Democratic Party politicians Maldivian expatriates in the United Kingdom Maldivian Muslims Maldivian prisoners and detainees Members of the People's Majlis People educated at Dauntsey's School People from Malé Presidents of the Maldives Sustainability advocates People imprisoned on charges of terrorism Heads of government who were later imprisoned Speakers of the People's Majlis Climate activists