A conference on the topic “Regaining Our Sovereignty Through a Robust Decarbonization Strategy” during the “Rdv de l’Éco” event
As part of the “Rendez-vous de l’éco” series, the Faculty of Economics at the University of Montpellier is organizing a conference on the topic: “Regaining Our Sovereignty Through a Robust Decarbonization Strategy” on Thursday, February 5, 2026, starting at 6:00 p.m., on the Richter Campus Richter Campus of the Faculty of Economics.
Why this conference?
Matthieu Auzanneau, Director of the Shift Project, explains why, in his view, we have not just one compelling reason to take our decarbonization goals (the climate) very seriously, but two. For the Shift Project, decarbonization is the necessary path that will enable the European Union to achieve strategic autonomy. But this path is difficult, due to the physical limits of our domestic low-carbon energy sources and the constraints weighing on the industrial systems that will depend on them. This path to sovereignty through decarbonization calls for boldness and unity on a scale comparable to that of the pioneers who built Europe on energy—coal and steel, nuclear power, and agricultural abundance—in the aftermath of World War II.
Speaker:
Matthieu Auzanneau has led the Shift Project, a leading think tank on energy transition, since 2016. Previously, Matthieu worked as a journalist, focusing on issues at the intersection of economics and ecology (Le Monde, Arte, France 2, etc.). In 2002, he produced the first French documentary for Envoyé Spécial, filmed in Alaska, that showed the concrete consequences of global warming. He created “Global Mag,” the first television program dedicated to investigative reporting and features on the environment, which aired on Arte starting in 2008.
Matthieu is a guest blogger for Le Monde, writing the blog “Oil Man: Chronicles of the Beginning of the End of Oil.” He is notably the author of *Or noir, la grande histoire du pétrole* (2015, La Découverte), which was described as “prodigious” by *Nature* magazine and awarded a prize by the French Association of Energy Economists.
