Born in Oran in 1951, she moved to France with her parents in 1962, following the Algerian War. A few years later, she graduated from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris and obtained a doctorate in economics from the University of Paris I.
A former activist in the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR), she became, in the 1970s, the assistant to Lionel Jospin, then professor of economics at the IUT of Sceaux. From 1997 to 2002, when he was appointed Prime Minister, she became his advisor on sustainable development issues at Matignon.
In 2012, she was one of the signatories of the appeal launched by several economists to support François Hollande’s candidacy in the presidential election.
“Champion” for the climate
Well-versed in the delicate exercise of diplomacy, Laurence Tubiana was an ambassador for the negotiations during COP21 in 2015, and is presented as the architect of the Paris Agreement that was signed on that occasion. A professor at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris, she holds the chair of sustainable development. Since 2017, she has headed the European Climate Foundation. She is also chair of the board of the French Development Agency.
“Laurence Tubiana named ‘champion’ for the climate,” was the headline The world in 2016. She had just been tasked by Laurent Fabius – then Minister of Foreign Affairs – with maintaining the momentum initiated by COP21. “I chose a personality who played an effective and appreciated role in the success of the Paris conference and who has the necessary expertise, contacts and legitimacy,” the head of diplomacy said of her at the time.
« Macron compatible »
Last week, following the results of the second round of the legislative elections, Laurence Tubiana was one of the signatories – with José Bové, Marisol Touraine, Noël Mamère and Aurélie Filippetti – of a platform published in “Le Monde” calling on the New Popular Front to “reach out to other actors of the republican front to discuss a republican emergency program.”
This was all it took for LFI elected officials to react, on Monday evening, to the hypothesis of his candidacy for Matignon, denouncing a “Macron compatible” personality. “It would be a betrayal of the commitment made in front of millions of voters”, according to the Val-d’Oise MP Paul Vannier.
