Environmental and climate issues in a growing economy, Chinese-French roundtable

on the September 30, 2014

3.30 pm

Cujas Amphitheater
2/4 Albert-Lautman Street
31000 TOULOUSE

Chinese-French roundtable, organized in the framework of "France-Chine 50"

Under the Chairmanship and with the presence of Mr. Laurent FABIUS
French Minister for Foreign affairs and international development

With the presence of Mr. ZHAI Jun
Ambassador of the People's Republic of China

A year before the crucial international COP21 meeting in Paris, this roundtable will discuss various issues related to the management of the environment and sustainable growth, and its Chinese and French members will share their experiences drawn from their environmental policies and actions in their own country:

• Is the fight against climate change being a drag on growth and employment?

• How to render effective the environmental governance? How to coordinate the efforts of private and public actors worldwide in order to maximise their impact on reducing the major climate risk?

• What lessons can we learn from local experiences, in the areas of city, industry, energy, and circular economy?

• How to effectively support efforts for green innovations and the development of alternative technologies to fossil fuels?

• How did France manage its environmental problems during the re-industrialisation between 1945 and 1980 and what lessons can China draw from this?

Participants in the rountable
• M. Laurent Fabius, French Minister for Foreign Affairs and international development.
• M. Zhai Jun, Ambassador of the Popular Republic of China in France
• M. Hervé Machenaud, COMEX EDF, in charge of the supervision of the Asia Pacific region.
• Pr. Shiji Gao, Director-General of the Institute for Resource and Environmental Policies, Development Research Center of the State Council of China

• Pr. Xu He, Professor, School of Environmental Science, Nankai University, China

• Pr. Christian Gollier, Professor, Toulouse Capitole University, GM of TSE and IPCC member
• Pr. Jean Tirole, Toulouse Capitole University, Toulouse School of Economics, Member of French "Economics Analysis Advisory Board"

Moderator of the roundtable: Jean-Marc Vittori, economic journalist at Les Echos

What's IPCC ?

IPCC (intergovernmental panel on climate change) is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change. It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts. In the same year, the UN General Assembly endorsed the action by WMO and UNEP in jointly establishing the IPCC.

What's COP21 ?

In September 2012, French President François Hollande announced France’s candidacy to host this major event in 2015. It will be the 21st Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC and the 11th meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
France has chosen to make this Conference exemplary in terms of environmental impact. It will implement a programme of action aimed at keeping to a minimum the impact of the meeting in terms of consumption of natural resources (water, waste, energy) and greenhouse gas emissions. This conference will be held in automn 2015.

Laurent Fabius and Zhai Jun on January 14th, 2014 in French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Source : Ministry of Foreigh Affaires of the People's Republic of China

Updated on September 23, 2014