Patricia Charlebois is a seasoned maritime and pollution response expert, currently serving as Deputy Director of the Marine Environment Division at the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Throughout her 21-year career with the IMO and 26 years within the United Nations system, including 5 years with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, she has been involved in many international pollution incidents and natural disasters around the globe, ranging from the FSO SAFER operation off the coast of Yemen (2019-2023), to the Fukishima nuclear disaster (2011), the Indian Ocean Tsunami (2004) and UN humanitarian response to the Iraq Conflict (2003), among others. Prior to that, she spent ten years occupying emergency management roles within the Canadian Government at both Transport Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, the latter role with oversight of the national environmental emergencies preparedness and response programme.
As part of her current functions, she oversees all matters related to preparedness and response to marine pollution incidents from both oil and chemicals and coordinates technical cooperation implementation related to IMO’s environmental conventions. She also oversees ocean policy matters including ocean dumping, borders beyond national jurisdiction and has administrative oversight of the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) in Malta.
Patricia holds a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Ottawa, Canada, MSc in Environmental Management and Business from Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC, Canada, as well as a Diploma in Maritime Trade & Transport from Lloyd’s Maritime Academy.