Two days after the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York, Rémy Rioux, Director of the French Development Agency will be in conversation with Scott Barrett, Vice-Dean of SIPA, to take the pulse on current efforts to address climate change and on political progress to implement the Paris Agreement. Rémy Rioux will draw on his experience as a negotiator during the Paris COP 21 process to share his vision of how to overcome the current impasse. He will also discuss his recent book, Reconciliations, in which he charts a new path for sustainable development. Given the fact that developing countries are bearing the brunt of global warming and other effects of climate change, development agencies have a crucial role to play in supporting energy transition efforts in Africa and other parts of the world. Rioux also argues that, in order to achieve a balance between economic growth and environmental protection, an urgent change of direction is needed, including significant changes to our way of life and our patterns of production and consumption.
Rémy Rioux, Chief Executive Officer, French Development Agency
Rémy Rioux is the chief executive officer of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD). During his career, Rémy Rioux, Senior Advisor at the Court of Auditors, has alternately held responsibilities in France and to support development in Africa. He works for France’s economic and financial policy and conducted control missions in the energy and defense sectors at the Court of Auditors from 1997 to 2000, and subsequently from 2002 to 2004. In 2015, he worked with the French negotiating team led by Laurence Tubiana to coordinate the financing portion of the climate negotiations for the final Paris Agreement.
Scott Barrett, Vice Dean, School of International and Public Affairs; Lenfest-Earth Institute Professor of Natural Resource Economics
Scott Barrett is a leading scholar on transnational and global challenges, ranging from climate change to disease eradication. His research focuses on how institutions like customary law and treaties can be used to promote international cooperation. He has advised a number of international organizations, including the United Nations, the World Bank, the OECD, the European Commission, and the International Task Force on Global Public Goods. He was previously a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and a member of the Academic Panel to the Department of Environment in the UK.
An event jointly sponsored by: Alliance Program, Maison Française, European Institute, Earth Institute, Columbia European Union Student Association (CEUSA), Columbia European Society, and SIPA
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Please arrive ahead of time to secure a spot.
