Norbert Bärlocher grew up in Eastern Switzerland together with two siblings. After high school, he moved to French-speaking Switzerland and obtained a bilingual Master in Law at Fribourg State University. After a few years working in a law firm in Lucerne (Switzerland) as an attorney, he joined the Foreign Service of Switzerland in 1992. His first assignment was in Mexico City, where he had the opportunity to learn Spanish.

Back in the Swiss capital, Bern, he was responsible for international environmental law within the Directorate for International Law of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). These years, shortly after the Rio Earth Summit where the UNFCCC, the UNCCD, and the CBD (initiated by IUCN!) were adopted, marked the rise of international environmental law as a key pillar of international relations.

He was fortunate that, from that moment on, environmental issues—dear to his heart but also to his reason (he became a member of WWF at the age of 11)—accompanied him throughout his professional career. He was responsible for the nexus between human rights and the environment, was part of the drafting group for the by-laws of the UNCCD and CBD, headed the Swiss delegation to the Alpine Convention meetings, and negotiated a treaty with Italy for the creation of a binational national park.

As part of his international assignments, he served as Deputy Head of Mission at the Swiss Embassy in Jakarta, led public affairs at the Swiss Embassies in Berlin and Washington, and headed the unit for bilateral relations between Switzerland and Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the FDFA in Bern.

In 2014, he joined the International Affairs Division of the Federal Office for the Environment of Switzerland, where he acted as Head of the Rio Conventions Section (UNFCCC, CBD, UNCCD), including other biodiversity-related conventions (CITES, CMS, UNESCO-WHC, IWC, FAO IPPC and Treaty, Bern Convention, etc.).

As part of his responsibilities, he was Deputy Head of Delegation for the negotiation of the UNFCCC Paris Climate Agreement and served as Switzerland’s Head of Delegation and lead negotiator at the last three CBD Conferences of the Parties. He also served as Switzerland’s Focal Point for the Convention on Biological Diversity and as Vice President in the Bureau of the CBD, as well as its Subsidiary Body on Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA).

During the negotiations of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, he was appointed Co-Chair for several contact groups, including the one on Sustainable Use of Biodiversity.

In 2016, his government entrusted him with the position of Councilor representing the host country of IUCN, where he aimed to facilitate the work of the Union and its Councilors in fulfilling their important tasks in the field of conservation and sustainable development.

He will step down as Councilor at the IUCN World Congress in Abu Dhabi but remains eager to continue his engagement for nature and to contribute to raising awareness of the important work of the Union and its Commissions (e.g. the Red List, Nature-based Solutions) within international processes and conventions.