Bruno Oberle

Bruno Oberle has explored and shaped the interface between environmental policy, economic development and social balance from the perspective of the state regulator, as an entrepreneur and as a scientist. He has worked on both sectoral and national issues, as well as at the highest level of international policymaking. He studied Environmental Science, Economics and Mediation and then completed his doctorate at ETH Zurich. He founded and led companies in the field of environmental consulting and environmental management. 

In 1999 he was appointed Deputy Director of the Federal Office for the Environment, Forests and Landscape in Switzerland, and in 2005 was appointed Director of the newly created Federal Office for the Environment. Until 2015, as State Secretary for the Environment, he also represented Switzerland in international institutions and international negotiations. On several occasions he took on mediation tasks, in particular with regard to topics related to the financing of international programmes. 

Since 2016, Bruno Oberle has been a professor and chair of “Green Economy and Resource Governance” at EPFL in Lausanne. He also heads EPFL’s IRGC, the International Risk Governance Center. In addition to his full-time duties, he acts both as an advisor and as a director in several organisations and companies and conveys his experiences in lectures, courses and writings. 

Speaking at the following WCEF2019 sessions:

Tuesday 4 June at 11.00-12.30: The circular economy in lifelong learning