Brice Lalonde (; born 10 February 1946) is a former

green party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

leader in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, who ran for

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...

in the Presidential elections, 1981. In 1988 he was named

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

, and in 1990 founded the green

Ecology Generation Ecology Generation (french: Génération écologie) is one of the four green parties in France, along with Europe Ecology – The Greens (), the Independent Ecological Movement (), and Cap Écologie. Founded in 1990 by Brice Lalonde, Environmen ...

party.

Life and career

Lalonde was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, the son of Alain Lalonde and Fiona Forbes. His maternal grandparents were Americans James Grant Forbes II of the

Forbes family The Forbes family is one of the components of the Boston Brahmins—they are a wealthy extended American family long prominent in Boston, Massachusetts. The family's fortune originates from trading opium and tea between North America and China ...

and Margaret Tyndal Winthrop of the Dudley–Winthrop family. Through Fiona's sister

Rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was known by the scientific name ''Rosmar ...

, he is a first cousin of politicians

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

and Cameron Kerry. Lalonde's paternal grandfather changed his surname from Lévy to Lalonde, and converted from Judaism to Catholicism. James Grant Forbes II was a

poppy A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, '' Papaver somniferum'', is the source of the narcotic drug o ...

botanist and opium dealer in the China trade during the

Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...

s, who wrote a book on Chinese plants. Lalonde was a student leader during the May 1968 student uprisings in France. In 1968, Lalonde was a member of

Union Nationale des Étudiants de France The National Union of Students of France (''Union nationale des étudiants de France'' or UNEF) is the largest national students' union in France. It is historically close to the Socialist Party, with many of its member joining the party after l ...

(UNEF), the French national students' union, and chairman of UNEF-Sorbonne, which brought France to a standstill with protests and riots. Later Lalonde, with

David McTaggart David Fraser McTaggart (June 24, 1932 – March 23, 2001) was a Canadian-born environmentalist who played a central part in the foundation of Greenpeace International. An excellent all-around athlete, as a young man he won three consecutive Cana ...

, an activist involved in the Greenpeace protests against French nuclear tests at

Mururoa Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll i ...

atoll, helped create the confrontational strategies of boarding ships at sea in the 1970s. In July 1973, he was arrested by the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

during protests against nuclear tests in Mururoa, along with General Jacques Pâris de Bollardière, priest Jean Toulat and writer Jean-Marie Muller.Jean Guisnel, ''Jacques Pâris de Bollardière, portrait d'un général en honnête-homme'', pp. 47-49 in ''Histoire secrète de la Ve République'' (dir.

Roger Faligot Roger Faligot is a French journalist, who started working in Ireland in 1973 before working as freelance investigative journalist for British, Parisian or foreign newspapers and magazines (Ireland, England, Japan). Considered one of the best Fre ...

and Jean Guisnel), ''

La Découverte LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'', 2006, 2007 He was the Mouvement d'écologie politique (MEP) candidate for President of France in 1981 (3.88% of the vote), spokesman for Amis de la Terre in 1982 and later Environment Secretary of France (1988–90) and Environment Minister of France (1990–92). From 1995 to 2008, he was the mayor of

Saint-Briac-sur-Mer Saint-Briac-sur-Mer (, literally ''Saint-Briac on Sea''; ; Gallo: ''Saent-Beriac''), is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine Department in Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Saint-Briac-sur-Mer are called ''briacins'' in Fr ...

, a small Breton village where the

have a villa. In 1990 Lalonde founded the

party, which enjoyed runaway electoral success in 1992 but then declined in face of competition from the French Green Party. He was unable to run for president in the 1995 elections, being unable to obtain the necessary 500 signatures from French mayors or MPs. In 2002, he left the leadership of his party and politics. He became a consultant, working on development projects in Africa. In 2007 Brice Lalonde was appointed French Ambassador for Climate Change and was heavily involved in multilateral climate change negotiations until the end of 2010, when UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon appointed him Assistant Secretary-General, Executive Coordinator of the

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as Rio 2012, Rio+20 (), or Earth Summit 2012 was the third international conference on sustainable development aimed at reconciling the economic and environmental goals ...

(Rio+20), which was held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

in June 2012. Lalonde lives in Paris.

Timeline

*1968 – President of the National Student Union (at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

) and leader in the May 1968 student uprisings *1971 – Joined and led the recently created French branch of the environmental organization, "''Les Amis de la Terre''" ( Friends of the Earth). *1974 – Directed the

presidential campaign President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

of ecological politician

René Dumont René Dumont (March 13, 1904 – June 18, 2001) was a French engineer in agronomy, a sociologist, and an environmental politician. Biography Dumont was born in Cambrai, Nord, in the north of France. His father was a professor in agriculture ...

*1977 – Founded Radio Verte, a Green

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

station *1976–1977 – Journalist for '' Le Sauvage'' *1981 – Ran for President of France on the Green ticket *1981 – Member of the National Ecological Commission of the Territorial Planning and Management Ministry *1982–1985 – Administrator of the European Bureau of the Environment *1986 – Expert on pollution of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

Sandoz Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loca ...

*1988–1992 – French Minister of Environment *1995–2008 – Mayor of

*1990–2002 – Leader of the Génération Ecologie party. *2007–2010 – French ambassador on climate change negotiations. *2010–2012 – United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Executive Coordinator of the

(Rio+20).

Selected publications

* "Ecoliberalism Lives"
''Telos''
61 (Fall 1984). New York: Telos Press.

References

External links

Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lalonde, Brice 1946 births 21st-century French politicians Candidates in the 1981 French presidential election Ecology Generation politicians French Ministers of the Environment French people of American descent French people of English descent French people of Scottish descent Forbes family Living people People from Neuilly-sur-Seine Unified Socialist Party (France) politicians Winthrop family Woolsey family French officials of the United Nations