The Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), a think tank that supports the transition towards sustainable development, has the great honour to acknowledge the appointment of Teresa Ribera, its Director, as Minister for the Ecological Transition by Pedro Sanchez, President of the Council of Ministers of Spain.
I am very honoured by this nomination. I had the privilege to work at IDDRI with a team full of talent and energy and with the capacity to anticipate societal challenges and propose solutions. It is an honour for me to be able to contribute to this transition and help develop a coherent path for the construction of Europe
Teresa Ribera has been Director of IDDRI since 2014, and has enabled the Institute to play a key role in the negotiation of the Paris Climate Agreement. She served as the Spanish Secretary of State for Climate Change from 2008 to 2011, responsible for environmental and climate policies as well as the National Meteorological Agency. A public official from the Senior Corps of State Civil Administrators, she has also taught at the Autonomous University of Madrid.
Consequently, Teresa Ribera is leaving her position as Director of IDDRI. Its Executive Board, chaired by Jean Jouzel, designates Lucien Chabason as the interim Director of the Institute.
Lucien Chabason has been Senior Advisor at IDDRI since 2005. An expert on the OECD and UNEP, he is a member of the scientific councils of the Fonds français pour l’environnement mondial (French Global Environment Facility) and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. He was coordinator of the United Nations Mediterranean Action Plan (based in Athens) from 1994 to 2003. He led the Cabinet of the French Minister of the Environment, Brice Lalonde, then prepared the national environment plan. He was adviser to the French Prime Minister on environmental issues from 1976 to 1978, responsible for spatial planning issues, sites and landscapes at the Ministry of Environment (1978-1984), then director of the research department at the Ministry of Environment (1984-1988). He chaired the Plan bleu, and founded and chaired the Association du Domaine du Rayol (Var). He studied law, sociology and political science before attending the Ecole nationale d’administration (1966-1968).