George de Berdt Romilly, President

Climate Change Adaptation Specialist, Environmental Law/Policy/Institutions Specialist, Chartered Mediator (Environmental), Legal Draftsman

George is the President of the Canadian environmental consulting firm de Romilly & de Romilly Limited, obtained his Masters’ Degree (LL.M) in Marine and Environmental Law from Dalhousie University in 1992, specializing in the areas of international environmental law, maritime law, and oil and gas law.

He is a member of the -

Roster of Experts (Climate Change) appointed by the Green Climate Funds (GCF);
Independent Review Expert Roster (Pilot Program on Climate Resilience - PPCR) appointed by the Climate Investment Funds (CIF);
Roster of Experts (Climate Change) for the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF);
Roster of Experts (Climate Change Adaptation) established by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID);
Roster of Experts (Biosafety Law) established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

George is also an elected member of the International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL) (based at the offices of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in Bonn, Germany) and contributor to the Yearbook of International Environmental Law; a member of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA); an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe; and a Chartered Mediator accredited by the Arbitration and Mediation Institute of Canada. He is a founding member of the Nova Scotia-based ClimeAdapt and Climate Change Atlantic networks.

Financing for Climate Change and Environmental Management

During the past 30 years, through utilizing his skills in the identification and mobilization of program financing, George has:

(a) assisted the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica secure over US$65 million in international funding under the country’s Low Carbon Climate Resilient Development Strategy and Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR);

(b) assisted the Seychelles Government secure over US$70 million in international funding for capital projects under the country’s Environmental Management Plan;

(d) assisted the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) secure US$6 million in funding for climate change projects in the Caribbean region;

(e) assisted the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (CCCCC) secure US$5.2 million in funding for climate change programs in the Caribbean;

(f) secured US$2 million in funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for climate change projects in the Caribbean;

(g) assisted the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (CCCCC) secure US$2 million in financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to implement a pilot program to convert Caribbean tourism facilities to a carbon-neutral status utilizing a variety of renewable energy technologies;

(h) coordinated a number of feasibility and pre-feasibility studies for multi-million dollar environmental projects (wastewater, water, renewable energy) in various developing countries;

(i) assisted the Government of Nepal secure US$110 million in international funding under the country’s Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR).

He has been involved in the design, development, implementation, and review of Global Environment Facility (GEF) projects since the “Pilot Phase” of the GEF in the late 1980’s. During this time, he has, for the World Bank, UNDP and UNEP, prepared PDF-B applications, detailed project documents, project operational plans, project procurement plans, financing plan (including negotiation of project co-financing) and detailed project budgets. As part of GEF project preparation activities he has undertaken legal, policy and institutional reviews, coordinated national stocktaking and regional consultative workshop to provide input to project components, and prepared project documents for GEF Council submission. He has undertaken the revision of project documents to incorporate comments from STAP review and Executing Agency review.

He has acquired over 20 years practical experience in climate change adaptation planning and management in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries working on projects GCF, GEF, World Bank, ADB, DANIDA, DFID, WWF, CIDA and under the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) funded by the Climate Investments Funds (CIF). For the past four years he has been leading a consortium of private sector companies in the identification, evaluation and development of sustainable energy opportunities involving first and second-generation biofuels.

International Environmental Law

In the capacity as Environmental Law, Policy and Institutional Specialist, he has provided technical assistance to governments (including the preparation of Cabinet submissions) concerning the ratification and implementation of international environmental treaties, conventions and agreements, including –

Treaties on Climate Change and Disaster Management

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;
Kyoto Protocol;
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer;
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer;
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

Treaties on Biological Diversity

Convention on Biological Diversity;
Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing;
Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention);
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea;
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries;
Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean Region;
Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) in the Wider Caribbean Region;
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Treaties on Pollution Management

Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Basel Convention;
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs);
Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade;
Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean Region;
Protocol Concerning Co-operation in Combating Oil Spills in the Wider Caribbean Region;
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and Related Protocols (MARPOL 73/78),
Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by the Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention):
International Convention on Oil Spill Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (OPRC Convention).

Treaty on Access to Justice in Environmental Matters

Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean 2018 (Escazú Agreement 2018).

Cook Islands - Training on Environmental Law and Legal Drafting with Technical Officers from the Cook Islands National Environment Service (NES) under the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded "Legal and Institutional Strengthening of Environmental Management" project

Legal Drafting

George has provided expert advice and legal drafting services in the development/drafting of a number of national environmental/marine laws and regulations. He has drafted:

(a) environmental management and pollution control legislation for Governments in Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cook Islands, Dominica, Fiji, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu;

(b) natural resource management and national parks legislation for the Governments of Dominica, Fiji and Seychelles;

(c) fisheries management and coastal zone management legislation for the Governments of the British Virgin Islands, Dominica and Grenada.

Legal drafting work has included the design and coordination of associated public consultations on the proposed legislation. Recent examples of public consultation papers include:

Antigua and Barbuda – Access to Justice Program. George was retained by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda under the Green Climate Fund (GCF) National Adaptation Plan (NAP) project to provide legal advice and legal drafting services to the Antigua and Barbuda Department of Environment.

The assignment included the development and operationalization of an Access to Justice Programme for Environmental Matters to implement the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean 2018 (Escazú Agreement 2018), with particular focus on climate change adaptation as well as drafting of corresponding legislation. An Issues Paper and Factsheet were developed to support and facilitate an extensive public consultation process on the proposed legislation.

British Virgin Islands - Institutional Strengthening of Fisheries Management. George, was recently retained by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour of the Government of the Virgin Islands to undertake a review and revision of the legislation and institutional frameworks for environmental, natural resources and fisheries management.

The assignment included extensive stakeholder consultation, culminated in the preparation of the documents entitled Green Paper - Proposed Environmental Management and Climate Adaptation Bill (October 2018), Green Paper – Proposed Revisions to the Virgin Islands’ Fisheries Act, No. 4 of 1997 (October 2018), and Review and Revision of Legislation for the Proposed Virgin Islands’ Department of Agriculture - Issues Paper (March 2019).

George was the principal legal draftsman for:

(i) Fiji’s Sustainable Development Bill which was promoted as a model for small island developing States at the Mauritius meeting to undertake the 10-year review of the Barbados Program of Action;

(ii) Dominica’s Biosafety Management Act which implements the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and is promoted as a model for other Caribbean small island developing States by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP);

George was the Project Manager, Legal and Institutional Strengthening Specialist, and Legal Draftsman for the "Legal and Institutional Strengthening of Environmental Management" project in the Cook Islands funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The project was designed to assist the Cook Islands in the review, development and drafting of priority environmental legislation, including legal frameworks to implement requirements under various international environmental conventions. George drafted, through a broad-based consultative process, 14 legislative instruments for, amongst other matters, environmental impact assessments, development planning, waste and pollution management; sewage and waste-water management, biodiversity conservation, and environmental management in Outer Islands. As part of the assignment, he developed and presented a comprehensive legal drafting and enforcement training program for environmental inspectors, including training in investigations, case management, handling of exhibits, court preparation, and court procedures.

Experience in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

George has worked for over 30 years in the capacity as environmental legal and institutional specialist on projects in thirty (30) Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and coastal developing States in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and South Pacific regions (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Comoros, Dominica, Fiji, French Polynesia, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Montserrat, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Vanuatu)

Cook Islands - Protecting Vulnerable Coa

Legal, policy and institutional reviews have been undertaken and technical assistance provided in:

(i) the establishment or institutional strengthening of Departments of Environment (or environmental agencies) in the small island developing States of Dominica, Grenada, Fiji, Seychelles, St. Lucia, and Vanuatu;

(ii) the institutional strengthening of the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) in Trinidad and Tobago, and the design of the agency’s Environmental Information System (EIS);

(iii) the institutional strengthening of the Natural Resource Conservation Authority (NRCA) and Sustainable Development Council of Jamaica;

(iv) the establishment and institutional strengthening of the wastewater division of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) in Trinidad and Tobago;

(v) the establishment of the Regional Oil Spill Contingency Program (funded by the Global Environment Facility) for the island States of the Indian Ocean Region (Comoros, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles);

(vi) the establishment and institutional strengthening of the Department of National Parks in Dominica;

(vii) the institutional strengthening of the waste management utilities in six Caribbean States (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines);

(viii) the development of National Climate Change Adaptation Policies and Action Plans in 12 Caribbean states (Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago);

(ix) the development of Dominica’s Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, Dominica’s Biosafety Strategy, First National Report to the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and Dominica’s Third National Communications to the Conference of Parties to the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change;

(x) the development and drafting of the St. Georges Declaration of Principles for Environmental Sustainability in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS);

(vii) the development of environmental impact assessment processes and guidelines for the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Department of Environment in Fiji and Vanuatu;

(ix) the establishment of the Virgin Islands Agriculture and Fisheries Marketing Authority and institutional strengthening of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries with the objective of promoting, amongst other goals, effective ocean governance and a sustainable blue/green economy.

Trinidad and Tobago - Participants in Climate Change Vulnerability Mapping Training under the European Union funded “Technical Assistance to the Environment Program”.