Personal Profiles

George de Berdt Romilly

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, having obtained his Masters Degree (LL.M) in Marine and Environmental Law from Dalhousie University in 1992, while specializing in the areas of international environmental law, maritime law, and oil and gas law. He is member of the Roster of Experts (Climate Change) for the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a member of the Roster of Experts (Climate Change Adaptation) established by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), a member of the Roster of Experts (Biosafety Law) established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), an elected member of the International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL) (based at the offices of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in Bonn, Germany), 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.

He has over 30 years of experience in law, public administration, policy development and environmental and conservation management in Canada, United Kingdom, Norway and over 33 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Latin America, Middle East, and Pacific on projects funded by:

  • World Bank;                                            
  • Global Environment Facility (GEF);
  • United Nations Development Program (UNDP);
  • United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organisation (UNESCO);
  • United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP);
  • International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the United Nations;
  • Inter-American Development Bank (IDB);
  • Asian Development Bank (ADB);
  • Caribbean Development Bank (CDB);
  • Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA);
  • United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID);
  • Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA);
  • International Development Research Centre (IDRC); 
  • Organization of American States (OAS);
  • Caribbean Community (CARICOM);
  • Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS);
  • Environment Canada;
  • Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Labour (NSDEL);
  • Nova Scotia Department of Energy;
  • Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources;
  • Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM);
  • World Wildlife Fund (WWF). 

During this period, through utilizing his skills in the identification and mobilization of program financing:
(a) he assisted the Seychelles Government secure over US$70 million in international funding for capital projects under the country’s      Environmental Management Plan;
(b) he assisted the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) secure US$6 million in funding for climate change projects in the Caribbean region;
(c) he assisted the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (CCCCC) secure US$5.2 million in funding for climate change programs in      the Caribbean;
(d) he secured US$2 million in funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for climate change projects in the             Caribbean;
(e) he secured $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;
(f) he coordinated a number of feasibility and pre-feasibility studies for multi-million dollar environmental projects (wastewater, water,      renewable energy) in various developing countries.

George 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 10 years practical experience in climate change adaptation planning and management working on projects for the GEF, World Bank, ADB, DANIDA, DFID, WWF and CIDA in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries. 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.

Heather de Berdt Romilly

heather-de-romillyHeather has over 18 years senior management experience working in the public sector human resource function, specifically 8 years working with the Public Service Commission (and former Department of Human Resources) most recently as the Director of Policy.  She has a broad range of specialized expertise in human resource management including change processes, restructuring initiatives, strategic planning, internal group facilitation, policy development, evaluation and implementation, human resources research, human resources program evaluation and mediation. 

Policy experience includes workforce planning, recruitment and retention initiatives, succession planning strategies and human resource strategy development.  She is a lawyer with a Master of Laws in human resource management and dispute resolution.  She has applied her legal expertise to all facets of the human resource function.  Heather is a certified change management professional having completed the AdPro Prosci Change Management Certification in 2009.  Heather was formerly the Director of Employment Equity at the Technical University of Nova Scotia and assisted the organization with receiving a Certificate of Merit from the Conference Board of Canada in recognition of the implementation of exemplary measures to support employment equity under the Federal Contractors’ Program.  Heather has extensive experience mediating workplace disputes and developing dispute resolution policies and programs.

Heather is Vice-President of de Romilly & de Romilly Ltd. which has been providing environmental and labour consulting services since 1995.  The company has established domestic and international expertise regarding the provision of consulting services in human resource services, policy, planning, and legislative and regulatory preparation.  Heather has been providing private consulting services through de Romilly & de Romilly since November 2003 which projects have included change management processes, performance management and governance issues, workflow analysis, human resources renewal, human resource planning, research and evaluation, policy development, strategic planning, and facilitation.

Project work over the past four years has specialized in the provision of human resources consulting services to departments of the Government of Nova Scotia, specifically in the areas of; governance, performance management, organizational design, change management, research and evaluation, policy development, strategic planning, facilitation and organizational design.