Zoe Cuthbert

Associate Director – Sustainability and Climate Resilience, Jacobs

Zoe Cuthbert is a sustainability and water governance professional working in the private sector, with experience across government, the United Nations and international mega-events. She works at the intersection of water, climate and development, with a focus on climate resilience, water stewardship, circular economy, and stakeholder engagement.

In her role at Jacobs, Zoe leads climate resilience projects and integrates water resource management, and circular economy approaches across advisory programmes. Working in the private sector, she is particularly interested in how this expansive and diverse group of actors can be brought into multilateral processes to support greater impact overall.

Since September 2025, Zoe has been volunteering with AGWA, supporting the establishment of an informal working group in the lead-up to the 2026 UN Water Conference. As part of this voluntary role, she has supported with coordination, agenda development and working group sessions. Zoe has previously worked across the Middle East and Europe, including roles based in the UAE and Rome, Italy. Her experience includes communications, stakeholder engagement and strategic partnerships for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Expo 2020 Dubai, and Expo City Dubai. At Expo 2020 Dubai, she supported coordination of the 10 Thematic Weeks, including youth engagement. At COP28 UAE, she coordinated multi-stakeholder engagement on sustainable urban development and organised a session on good water governance and climate resilience.

Zoe holds an LLM in International Law and Sustainable Development from the University of Strathclyde, where her thesis examined the human right to water and sanitation in Sri Lanka.