Abstract:  Recently, France received poor grades from the EU with regard to the deployment of renewable energies. What is behind this result? Why is the development of wind and solar energy so slow to take off? Is the climate emergency poorly understood? Are project leaders approaching regions in the wrong way? How can we understand the French situation? Above all, how can we speed things up?

Abstract: The Department of Val d'Oise is a community with considerable assets and with varied demographics, as the region is very rural in the west and very urban in the east. These Valdoisian dynamics, driven by local public authorities, are today affected by the urgency of environmental, social, and technological issues. To provide responses that meet these challenges, the Val d’Oise Departmental Council is taking action in favor of sustainability and transitions.

These actions are designed to make the area more attractive for residents, investors and socio-economic players. They are are proof that the Val d'Oise is a leading actor in social and environmental change.

Abstract: Citizens have never been so alert, aware of the impact associated with their mode of consumption and their purchases on the economic, social and climatic transitions that are imposed on them. This is true for their health and their personal needs, but also, in their living area, for the societal impact that these expenses can represent in reducing their carbon footprint, on the links they help to forge, on the positive development of businesses and employment and its impact on the control of increasingly limited food and energy resources.

The acceleration of food and energy inflation phenomena has led to fueling this great paradox, that of an enlightened consumer who wants increasingly positive consumption, bringing meaning and progress but limited by an increasingly constrained personal budget. Thus arises the long and necessary adjustment of the structure of household expenditure, arbitrations between increasingly high expenses, leisure, telephony and food whose fair price must be accepted.

Major transitions are being organized in large-scale food distribution to respond to these challenges, planning a complete reconfiguration of commercial areas and their increasingly interconnected activities. Faced with these challenges, new companies are developing, addressing these transition issues and capable of reconciling positive impact, economic performance and changes in consumption patterns.

Tackling questions like:

• Current Challenges Exploration: An in-depth analysis of the challenges facing businesses and regions in a transitional context.

• Adaptation Strategies: Presenting best practices and strategies for businesses looking to thrive in an ever-evolving environment.

• Impact on Local Communities: Discuss how transitions affect local communities and the positive contributions businesses can make.

• Sustainable Innovation: Highlighting innovative and sustainable initiatives that lead to economic growth while preserving the environment. 

Abstract: Climate change is one of the greatest  challenges of our time. Beyond the imperious necessity for mitigating its effects at a global scale, we must collectively start to adapt to its systemic consequences at urban and regional levels, that will occur in the next thirty years whatever transition we launch now. This process of local adaptation to climate change relates to new economic models and investment strategies, as well as new ways for governing common resources that will increasingly rarefy, for which companies will play a crucial role. This presentation highlights research case studies that are being worked on at the moment, and argues that in any case we will have to come up with new forms of public-private coordination for governing our commons in the years to come.   

Abstract: Uncertainty is often considered a handicap, an obstacle. Can we have a positive view of uncertainty? 

Land-use planning is carried out through a plan aimed at guiding or framing urban development, the location of facilities, infrastructure, economic activities, and housing. It can be driven by a political project and take the form of an urban project, involving both private and public actors, with the objective of increasing the attractiveness of a city or metropolis. It may also involve infrastructure or mega projects. However, the planning of urban projects and infrastructure projects faces numerous environmental, financial, regulatory, social, political, and demographic uncertainties. We will consider that these uncertainties can be a source of new opportunities for the project if the actors leverage the resources of their "agency," such as the ability to access and mobilize individual and collective resources. But this agency to act and create opportunities implies freedom and responsibility in decision-making and choices to be made.

Abstract: We construct a news-implied index of greenwashing. Our index reveals that greenwashing has become particularly prominent in the past five years. Its increase was driven by skepticism towards the financial sector, specifically ESG funds, ESG ratings and green bonds. We show that greenwashing impacts investors' behavior. Unexpected increases in the greenwashing index are followed by decreases of flows into funds advertised as sustainable, both for retail and institutional investors. They furthermore bias the estimation of stocks' beta on climate risk, distorting the estimated climate risk premium. When accounting for greenwashing, the climate risk premium becomes small and statistically insignificant. 

This competition is organized by students, for students. This final will be an opportunity for the three  finalists to present their vision of the world of tomorrow. 

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Abstract: Operations and Supply Chains are among the most important parts of organizations to reduce the impact of companies on the planet, on communities, and on society. We look into three important questions: (1) How can operations help a company improve its own environmental footprint? We consider the example of closed-loop, circular supply chains to reduce waste and carbon emissions? (2) How can companies manage other companies in its supply chain, such as suppliers or partners, to improve its social impact? We discuss supply chain due diligence to combat forced labor in global value chains. Finally, (3) are there supply chains that are truly good? We talk about humanitarian supply chains whose only mission is to improve the well-being of disaster-striken or otherwise affected communities.