The “Rencontres Economiques d’Aix-en-Provence” were held last July 7-9, taking as their theme “Searching for New Forms of Prosperity”. Isabelle Kocher spoke on July 7 during a round table on the topic “Does growth destroy the planet”?

During 3 days, nearly 4000 people including academics, business leaders, politicians and students debated on the theme “Searching for New Forms of Prosperity” at Aix-en-Provence.

How to reconcile growth and sustainable development? How to cope with demographic growth and the legitimate aspirations of the least “advanced” countries – of which 1.3 billion inhabitants do not even have access to electricity? What are the new collective prosperity models outlined by the Paris Climate Agreement?

These were some of the questions raised during the round table in which Isabelle Kocher participated on July 7. “We must all take our responsibilities in the fight against global warming: states, citizens, businesses”, stated Isabelle Kocher.

The awareness of businesses depends on the decentralization of their organization: “The need is for organizations deeply embedded in local systems and aware of what is happening around them”, explained Isabelle Kocher. Moreover, “businesses must make clear choices and become pioneers in new areas. We can meet the 2 degrees commitment of the Paris Agreement, but speed is of the essence”.

Isabelle Kocher recalled that it is necessary to adopt a suitable regulatory and fiscal framework in order to speed up the energy revolution. She also returned to the notion of performance: “investors must adopt a broader idea of performance and not reduce this notion to financial performance. Businesses will increasingly be judged on the positive externalities they will create”, pointed out Isabelle Kocher.

Five questions to Isabelle Kocher