COP26 and the Mobilisation of the Finance Sector: France at the Heart of Global Net Zero Commitments

Michael Bloomberg

Founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies

UN Special Envoy for Climate Ambition an

UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions; Chair, Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, Founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies

Mike Bloomberg is an entrepreneur and three-term mayor of New York City whose innovations in business, government, and philanthropy have made him a pioneering leader on critical issues facing America and the world. He has launched major coalitions to save and improve lives, including America’s largest campaigns to prevent gun violence and fight the climate crisis, and he has championed efforts to fix our immigration system. Elected mayor just weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Bloomberg led New York City’s resurgence. He spearheaded the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan, fought poverty with new programs that became national models, and turned around a failing school system. Bloomberg reduced carbon emissions by 13 percent, increased New Yorkers’ life expectancy by three years, and cut crime by a third while reducing incarceration by nearly 40 percent. Despite the national recession, he led the city to record job growth.

As mayor, Bloomberg launched a pandemic influenza plan for New York City, and led the city through outbreaks of the swine flu and West Nile virus. An international leader on public health issues, Bloomberg recently launched a series of efforts to help fight the coronavirus pandemic through his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies. He’s supporting a fund for New York City-based non-profits impacted by the crisis, convening mayors to share information and strategies, committing $40 million to help low- and middle-income countries slow and prevent the spread of the disease, and more.

After his third term in City Hall, he resumed leadership of Bloomberg LP, the financial technology and media company he founded in 1981. Bloomberg LP now employs some 20,000 people. Bloomberg Philanthropies applies a unique, data-driven approach to drive progress in five focus areas – public health, government innovation, education, the environment, and the arts. He has given away $9.5 billion.

Bloomberg grew up in a middle-class home in Medford, Massachusetts. He took out government loans and worked his way through school, graduating from Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Business School. He is the father of two daughters, Emma and Georgina, and has two grandchildren.

Bruno Le Maire

Minister of the Economy and Finance

France

Bruno Le Maire, who was born on 15 April 1969 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, is a French politician and diplomat. He currently holds the position of Minister for the Economy and Finances in Jean Castex’s government under Emmanuel Macron’s presidency. An alumnus of the École normale supérieure, holder of a higher degree (agrégation) in French language and literature, graduate of Sciences Po Paris and former student at the École nationale d'administration (ENA), Bruno Le Maire began his career as Foreign Affairs Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (known as the Quai d'Orsay). In 2002, he became Strategic Affairs Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs followed by Adviser to the Minister of the Interior in 2004. In 2005, he joined Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin at Hôtel Matignon, first as an adviser and then as his Chief of Staff from 2006 to 2007. In June 2007, he was elected as MP for the first constituency of the Eure département. In December 2008, he was named Minister of State for European Affairs in François Fillon’s government before being appointed Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries in June 2009. He held the latter position until May 2012. In 2012, he was re-elected as MP for the Eure département. In October 2012, he resigned from the foreign affairs advisers corps of the senior civil service. In November 2014, he was candidate for the presidency of the UMP party and took part in the centre-right primary for the French presidential election in November 2016. In 2017, he was re-elected as MP for the Eure département.

Mark Carney

UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance

Mark Carney is currently the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance and Prime Minister Johnson’s Finance Adviser for COP26. Mark is a member of the Arnhold Distinguished Fellowship Program Board within Conservation International. He is also an external member of Stripe’s Board, a global technology company building economic infrastructure for the internet. Mark was previously Governor of the Bank of England (from 2013 to 2020), and Governor of the Bank of Canada (from 2008 to 2013). Internationally, Mark was Chair of the Financial Stability Board (from 2011 to 2018), He chaired the Global Economy Meeting and Economic Consultative Committee of the Bank for International Settlements (from 2018-2020) and was First Vice-Chair of the European Systemic Risk Board (from 2013-2020). He is Vice Chair of Brookfield Asset Management and a member of the Global Advisory Board of PIMCO, the Group of Thirty, the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, as well as the boards of Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Hoffman Institute for Global Business and Society at INSEAD. Mark was born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada in 1965. After growing up in Edmonton, Alberta, he obtained a bachelor degree in Economics from Harvard and masters and doctorate degrees in Economics from Oxford. After a thirteen-year career with Goldman Sachs, Mark was appointed Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada in 2003. In 2004, he became Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Finance. He held this position until his appointment as Governor of the Bank of Canada in February 2008.

Jean-Laurent Bonnafe

Chief Executive Officer

BNP Paribas

After graduating in Engineering, Jean-Laurent Bonnafé joined the French civil service, working first as a Senior Officer in the French Ministry of Industry and subsequently as Technical Advisor to the Minister of Trade and Industry. In 1993, he joined BNP as a Senior Investment Banker. In 1997, he was appointed Head of Strategy and Development. Following the BNP merger with Paribas in the year 2000, he led the post-merger integration process. In 2002, Jean-Laurent Bonnafé was appointed Head of the BNP Paribas Group’s French Retail Banking division, becoming a member of the Group Executive Committee. In 2006, when BNL was merged into the BNP Paribas Group, he was appointed BNL Managing Director. In 2008, he became BNP Paribas Chief Operating Officer and assumed responsibility for the Retail Banking activities of the entire Group. On 14 May 2009, Jean-Laurent Bonnafé was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Fortis Bank, remaining in this post until 1 February 2011 with a primary mission to ensure the smooth integration of Fortis Retail Banking activities into the Group. At the Annual General Meeting held on 12 May 2010, he was elected a Member of the BNP Paribas Group Board of Directors. On 1 December 2011, the Board of Directors appointed Jean-Laurent Bonnafé Group Chief Executive Officer.

Valerie Baudson

Chief Executive Officer

Amundi

Valérie Baudson is Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Agricole S.A. in charge of the asset management division and a member of the Executive Committee of Crédit Agricole SA since May 2021. In this capacity, she is Chief Executive Officer of Amundi. Valérie began her career in 1995 at Banque Indosuez in the General Audit department. She then joined Crédit Agricole Cheuvreux, the European brokerage subsidiary of the Crédit Agricole Group, as General Secretary and then Marketing Director for Europe. Valérie joined Amundi in 2007 to create the ETF, Index & Smart Beta business line. Amundi ETF is now the 5th largest player in Europe. She went on to become a member of the group's Executive Committee in 2013 and then a member of the Management Committee in 2016, when she was also appointed Managing Director of CPR AM, an active asset management company recognized for its thematic and ESG expertise. At the same time, Valerie took on the supervision of Amundi's subsidiaries in Germany and Spain. In 2020, she also took charge of the division dedicated to the Amundi Group's retail and private banking clients worldwide. She was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Amundi in May 2021, succeeding Yves Perrier. Valérie is a member of the Board of Directors of CA Indosuez Wealth, a member of the Strategic Committee of the Association Française de la Gestion Financière (AFG) and President of Paris Europlace Investors' College, which recently published the report - Investing with Purpose and Responsibility. She is a graduate of HEC Paris.

Thomas Buberl

Chief Executive Officer and Director

AXA

Thomas Buberl has been Chief Executive Officer and Director of AXA since September 1st, 2016. He started as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group for the banking & insurance sector both in Germany and internationally. From 2005 to 2008, he worked for the Winterthur Group (acquired by AXA in 2006) as member of the Management Board of Winterthur in Switzerland, first as Chief Operating Officer and then as Chief Marketing and Distribution Officer. He then joined Zurich Insurance Group as Chief Executive Officer for Switzerland. At the beginning of 2012, Thomas Buberl joined AXA as Chief Executive Officer of AXA Germany and member of the AXA Executive Committee. In March 2015, he also joined the AXA Management Committee and was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Global Business Line for the Health Business, and, in January 2016, of the Global Business Line for Life & Savings. From March to September 2016, he was deputy CEO (“Directeur général adjoint”) of AXA. Thomas Buberl holds a Master of Economics degree from WHU Koblenz (Germany), a MBA from Lancaster University (UK) and a PhD in Economics from the University of St.Gallen (Switzerland). He has been distinguished as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Thomas Buberl sits on the Board of Directors of IBM, the Supervisory Board of the Bertelsmann VerwaltungsGesellschaft (BVG), and the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum. A German, Swiss and French citizen, Thomas Buberl was born in 1973

Thierry Deau

Président

Finance for Tomorrow

Launched in 2017, Finance for Tomorrow is the branch of Paris EUROPLACE that brings together the players committed to making Paris the reference place for green and sustainable finance on an international level. Finance for Tomorrow brings together all private, public and institutional actors wishing to commit themselves to a finance that focuses on a sustainable future and combines long-term investment with consideration of environmental and social challenges. Thierry Déau's appointment comes at a time when Finance for Tomorrow's projects are accelerating. Among the main projects, there is the creation of an observatory to monitor the achievements and actions of Paris financial centre players in the field of green and sustainable finance, and the mobilization for the adoption of a strategy for the disinvestment of coal by all stakeholders.

Francine Lacqua

Editor-at-Large

Bloomberg TV

Francine Lacqua is an award-winning London-based anchor for Bloomberg Television. She co-anchors the weekday 3-hour daily program “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene, where she provides insight on foreign policy, global markets and the top business stories of the day. She also presents “Leaders with Lacqua,” a special series where she sits down with top CEOs, entrepreneurs and public figures. Since joining Bloomberg in 2000, Lacqua has covered the World Economic Forum in Davos, IMF in Washington, G20 meetings, the EU Leaders Summit and OPEC. She also led Bloomberg Television’s coverage of the Italian and French elections where she was one of the first international reporters to interview cabinet members. While at Bloomberg, Lacqua has interviewed high-profile figures such as French President Emmanuel Macron, former UK Prime Minister David Cameron, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, Billionaire financier George Soros and ECB President Mario Draghi. She has also interviewed finance ministers from South Korea, Russia, France, Mexico, Italy and Greece, as well as moderating televised debates from the World Economic Forum in Davos and the European Economic Governance package.