17 November 2023

17:35 – 18:20

Amphithéâtre Faure

Christian de Perthuis

Christian de Perthuis is an economist. He worked for ten years on agricultural development issues, first in Algeria (Institut de Technologie Agricole) then in France (Chambres d’Agriculture). He then joined macroeconomic research institutes: Rexecode and BIPE. He was appointed Associate Professor at Paris-Dauphine University in 1999. In 2003, he shifted his focus to climate issues: at Caisse des Dépôts, where he headed the Mission Climat, and at Paris Dauphine-PSL University, where he founded the Climate Economics Chair in 2009. His work on carbon pricing is a benchmark. Christian has carried out a number of missions for public authorities, including chairing the Comité pour la Fiscalité écologique. He is involved in two NGOs: Agrisud, agricultural development in less developed countries; Langage & Intégration, inclusion of children with hearing and/or severe language impairments.

Conference: How to achieve climate neutrality?

In the traditional economic approach based on growth, nature is thought of as a stock from which to draw raw materials. The climate crisis is forcing us to change our paradigm: the crisis is not caused by the scarcity of raw materials, but by their excessive abundance. Too much coal, too much oil and too much fossil fuel-based gas are leading to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The economist thought of natural capital as a stock of resources. He discovers that this capital ensures a set of regulatory functions, such as climate or biodiversity, for which we have no substitute. By emptying the subsoil of its concentrated fossil fuels, our societies have triggered global warming. They are disrupting the living carbon cycle that enables species to reproduce. By examining the interdependence between fossil and living carbon, Christian de Perthuis revolutionizes our approach to climate change by linking it to biodiversity. He takes us towards a new economy where the need for equity leads us to rethink abundance and scarcity.