In the Brongniart palace in Paris, the old Stock Exchange building, antagonistic profiles were seen this Thursday: the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohamed Bin Salman, or the young Ugandan environmentalist Vanessa Nakate. Two worlds so opposite with a common need: fight against climate change.

Reconciling economic development and protecting the environment is the challenge of the international summit organized in Paris by French President Emmanuel Macron. An appointment that will last two days and in which representatives of fifty countries discuss formulas to help the countries most vulnerable to climate change, those that suffer the most from droughts, floods and heat waves, and have fewer resources to deal with catastrophes. natural.

“No country should have to choose between the fight against poverty and climate change,” said the French president in his opening speech. The meeting, dubbed the “summit for a new global financial pact”, starts with this objective, at least on paper: to refound the international financial system that was founded in 1944 at Bretton Woods, in New Hampshire (USA), after the Second World War.

It was then that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were created, but “the world has changed” and the idea is to create a new pact “that is more respectful of the sovereignty of each one.”. It must be “the meeting to propose concrete solutions”, said Macron. Among the ideas under debate are creating a new rate for the sectors with the most benefits, restructuring the debt of poor countries and involving the private sector more.

“This summit is yours, that is, that of all those who are on the front line” facing the consequences of climate change and the increase in poverty and inequality,” the French president said in his speech, recalling that a shock of public financing is needed, but also private.

The event, which ends today, was attended by NGOs, environmental associations and a broad representation of different countries, especially African, as well as companies and organizations such as the World Bank or the IMF