Dr René Van Berkel

UNIDO Representative for India, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka & Head, UNIDO Regional Office in India.


René VAN BERKEL (PhD) currently heads the Regional Office of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in India. He is accredited as UNIDO Representative for India, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. UNIDO works to promote inclusive and sustainable industrial development with a particular focus on productivity and competitiveness, environmental sustainability and decent and inclusive work in manufacturing firms.
René has over 33 years professional experience in resource efficiency and cleaner production, industrial ecology, productivity, innovation, sustainability and social responsibility, particularly in manufacturing and related sectors, including the required policies and capacities.
During 2015-17, René was the Chief Technical Advisor in UNIDO’s Resource efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) programme in Indonesia. From 2008 to 2015, he was Unit Chief Cleaner and Sustainable Production at UNIDO headquarters in Vienna. Between 2006 and 2008, he was an independent consultant in eco-efficiency and industrial ecology. From 1999 to 2006 he was Professor of Cleaner Production at Curtin University of Technology in Australia. From 1989 to 1999 he held various research and leadership positions at the University of Amsterdam.
Dr Van Berkel is a Dutch national and holds a PhD in Environmental Science from the University of Amsterdam.