Join us for a dynamic panel discussion exploring how international environmental agreements shape real-world water management. This session brings together two distinguished experts:
- Sibylle Vermont, a retired Swiss environmental policy leader who represented Switzerland in global negotiations on wetlands, forests, and transboundary water cooperation for over 30 years.
- Christian Bréthaut, Associate Professor at the University of Geneva and co-leader of the UNESCO Chair on Hydropolitics, whose research connects water governance with environmental policy and territorial development.
Together, they’ll unpack the relationship between two major international agreements—the Water Convention and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands—and how these frameworks influence policy and practice across borders.
Moderated by Professor Leila M. Harris, a leading scholar in water governance and environmental justice at the University of British Columbia. Her interdisciplinary research and global perspective will guide a thoughtful and engaging conversation.
Whether you’re interested in environmental science, international relations, or sustainable development, this session will offer valuable perspectives on how diplomacy, science, and policy come together to protect our planet’s water resources.
Speakers:
Sibylle Vermont is a Swiss environmental policy leader and former Deputy Head of Section Global Affairs (retired). She represented Switzerland as focal point and head of delegation in numerous UN conventions and regional agreements, building bridges between science, policy, and diplomacy. Ms. Vermont contributed to the Convention on Wetlands, the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention), and sustainable forest management international organizations such as the United Nations Forum on Forests. She led the negotiations and conclusion of regional bilateral agreements between Switzerland and France on the Rhone and Doubs rivers and the Lake of Geneva. Her leadership roles within international environmental bodies, such as chairing the Task Force on Water and Climate of the Water Convention, underscore her commitment to effecting positive change on a global scale. Today, she continues her conservation work at South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Dr. Christian Bréthaut is an Associate Professor in water governance at the Department of Geography and Environment and at the Institute for Environmental Sciences of the University of Geneva. He serves as Director of the Environmental Governance and Territorial Development Hub and Institute, and co-leads the UNESCO Chair on Hydropolitics at the University of Geneva. His work focuses on environmental policies and governance in general, and water governance in particular. He concentrates on multi-level governance issues, transboundary management, and the challenges posed by intersectorality. His interests are water governance, water-food-energy nexus, commons governance, multi-level governance, critical discourse analysis, and science-policy interface.
The visits of these Swiss speakers has been graciously facilitated by the Consulate General of Switzerland in Vancouver.
