The chairmanship of the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) rotates regularly and will be handed over from Germany to France in January 2026. Lionel Berthet will succeed Miriam Haritz, who held the chairmanship of the Commission from 2023 to 2025, for a three-year term.
After heading the Natural Hazards and Hydraulic Engineering Sub-Department within the Directorate-General for Risk Prevention (Ministry for Ecological Transition), Lionel Berthet is now Deputy Regional Director of the Regional Directorate for the Environment, Spatial Planning and Housing for the Grand Est region of France, which lies on the Rhine. There, he is particularly responsible for implementing public policies on water management (water quantity and quality), biodiversity protection and the prevention of natural and water-related risks. He is a hydrologist and holds a doctorate in flood prediction modelling.
He will pay particular attention to climate change adaptation, especially continuing the work carried out under President Haritz to update the adaptation strategy for the international river basin district Rhine. A milestone of his mandate will be the Ministerial Conference in 2027, which will take stock of progress in implementing the Rhine 2040 programme and set the objectives for the next seven years within the framework of this programme, taking into account in particular the necessary adjustments due to climate change.