Consultancy Services

Experience across a wide range of issues, including climate change, marine biodiversity, fisheries conservation, the Arctic and Antarctic, maritime policy, nuclear safety, security, and arms control, toxic pollution and clean production, fresh water management and sanitation, sustainable consumption, tobacco control, international governance, international trade, access to information and transparency.

The Varda Group provides a wide range of consultancy services

Campaign coordination and leadership: Designing and coordinating international campaigns, including coalition campaigns

Political campaigning and advocacy: Designing and leading campaigns which integrate public activities and targeted communication strategies with efforts behind the scenes to influence international law and policy. Representation and advocacy in political or other fora

Strategic and policy analysis on specific issues as well as cross sectoral and geopolitical challenges

Strategic planning and project design for campaigns and organizations: this may involve preparing plans for our clients, or leading an organization through a strategic planning process. We also do this in the form of training

Project evaluation: Including assessment and review of projects prior to funding, as well as analysis of successes and failures after completion

Meeting facilitation: we prepare and facilitate many types of meetings, ranging from large, formal governance meetings (board and executive level) to informal campaign or strategy meetings

Organization of public events or meetings, including chairing, facilitation and panel moderation, logistical preparations, and reporting

Organizational support, designing governance, operational and management structures, personnel recruitment, coaching and training

Public lectures and speeches on a range of topics

Organization of field expeditions for advocacy or documentation purposes

Organizational management, staff coaching, and conflict resolution

Policy analysis

Public speaking, panel moderation, speech writing

Communications and social media support

Event organization: from internal meetings to major public events

Our team

Rémi Parmentier

Kelly Rigg

Elaine Lawrence

Isabel Leal Maldonado

Current projects

All projects

December 2024

"What Went Wrong in Busan? What Next?", an op-ed with proposals to bring the UN Plastics negotiations back on track, published by the International Institute on Sustainable Development (IISD)

December 2024

Keynote talk on strategic communications and campaigning at the Amsterdam School for International Business

November 2024

Participation in the Fifth Session of UN Plastics Treaty Negotiations in Busan, Republic of Korea

Read Rémi's oped "What can we Expect in Busan?", written in collaboration with Lucien Chabason and published by IDDRI

October 2024

Participation in Biodiversity COP16 in Cali, Colombia on behalf of Let’s Be Nice to the Ocean

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October 2024

Publication of our new paper for next year’s Third UN Ocean Conference: Advancing the Protection Principle

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October 2024

Facilitating the America's Cup Blue Economy Forum on behalf of the Port of Barcelona

September 2024

Facilitation of the Greenpeace Research Laboratory annual planning meeting

September 2024

Guest speaker at the opening of the Nice Climate Summit (WATCH Rémi between 17’50 and 37’40)

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September 2024

Drafting on behalf of PR3, the Global Alliance to Advance Reuse, comments on the non-paper of the Chair of the UN Plastics Treaty negotiations

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June 2025

Attending the Third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice on behalf of our flagship project Let's Be Nice to the Ocean.

May 2025

On-going joint research project with the Institute on Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), commissioned by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

April 2025

Guest article in Impact, the magazine of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation (FPA2)

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April 2025

Guest speaker at Institut Français' ocean round table, Madrid

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March 2025

Oped in La Tribune du Dimanche (France), co-signed by our Let's Be Nice the Ocean partners: "Et si la protection de l'océan devenait la règle, et non plus l'exception?"

March 2025

Invited participant at the SOS Ocean conference in Paris

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March 2025

Guest participant at the Monaco Blue Initiative annual meeting

February 2025

In partnership with the Institute on Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), start of a research project commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

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February 2025

Organization and facilitation of a webinar for the associated stakeholders network of Let's Be Nice to the Ocean

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January 2025

UN Ocean Conference 2025 Information Meeting, jointly with the Ocean & Climate Platform and with the participation of the Governments of France and Costa Rica

Varda Group in action

Varda in the media

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The Varda group has vast experience across a wide range of issues, including climate change, marine biodiversity, fisheries conservation, the Arctic and Antarctic, maritime policy, nuclear safety, security, and arms control, toxic pollution and clean production, fresh water management and sanitation, sustainable consumption, tobacco control, international governance, international trade, access to information and transparency.