Fleur DOWNARD

Fleur currently leads the International Environment and UN Section in the International Strategy and Engagement Branch of the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.  She is a government house board member for the Australian Committee for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Fleur has previously worked as a qualified lawyer in both private practice and in-house in the department. After completing a Master of Environmental Law, she joined the former Department of Environment and has worked within the environment and water portfolios for the past ten years. Prior to joining the International Environment and UN Section, Fleur led a team responsible for developing the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2021 which bans the export of certain wastes from Australia. In 2021, she was Australia’s National Convenor for the United Nations Food Systems Summit dialogues, led the government’s engagement in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Conservation Congress and was a delegate to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Conference. She also leads the government’s engagement with the United Nations Environment Programme and the G20 Environment Track. Her section also leads on other cross-cutting international environmental organisations and processes, including the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the OECD Environment working groups, and the Sustainable Development Goals.