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Progress in the face of pushback Around the world, the leaders driving the most ambitious climate action are increasingly finding themselves at the centre of political polarisation, misinformation campaigns, and public backlash. Yet history shows that transformative change has rarely been achieved by following the path of least resistance. From redesigning cities and defending climate science to challenging vested interests, bold leadership often demands the willingness to go against the grain and withstand intense scrutiny. In this keynote address, Anne Hidalgo, former Mayor of Paris, Global Ambassador for the Global Covenant of Mayors and one of Europe's most influential urban climate leaders, will reflect on her experience leading the transformation of one of the world's largest cities. From reclaiming streets for people and expanding active transport to tackling air pollution and embedding climate resilience into urban planning, she will examine how sustained political opposition and misinformation became defining features of delivering change. Drawing on lessons from Paris, Hidalgo will explore what it takes to build trust, maintain conviction under pressure, and deliver tangible benefits of ambitious climate action. Agenda
About the speakers Anne Hidalgo In 2014, Anne Hidalgo became the first woman to be elected Mayor of Paris, after serving as First Deputy Mayor of Paris from 2001 to 2014. A member of the Socialist Party, she had graduated with a Master of Advanced Studies in social law before becoming a labour inspector and going on to serve as an adviser to three Ministers under the Lionel Jospin Government. In 2020, she was re-elected Mayor of Paris, with an ambitious programme designed to transform Paris into a zero-carbon city by 2050. She successfully led Paris's bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. As Mayor of Paris until March 2026, Anne Hidalgo pursued an ambitious policy agenda focused on housing for families and universal, inclusive public services, working to improve air quality, combat climate change and adapt the city to the climate challenge, reducing car use, greening public spaces and prioritising pedestrians. She fulfilled a promise first made in 1988 to make the Seine swimmable again, ending a ban that had been in place for over a century. She has equally championed these issues on the international stage. In December 2015 in Paris, she organised the climate summit for local leaders, a major side event of COP21. She chaired the C40 Cities Leadership Group and served as President of the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF) and Co-Chair of the World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). Today, she continues in her role as Global Ambassador of the Global Covenant of Mayors, working on climate leadership with mayors around the world. David Shukman David Shukman is a British journalist, author and science broadcaster with over 40 years of experience, best known for his long career at the BBC and his authoritative reporting on science and environmental issues. After joining the BBC in 1983, he held a range of senior roles including World Affairs Correspondent, Environment and Science Correspondent and became the BBC’s first Science Editor in 2012, a position he held until leaving the organisation in late 2021 to work as an independent consultant. A leading voice on climate change, sustainability and biodiversity loss, he is a sought‑after international speaker whose engaging talks draw on deep journalistic insight. He has also authored several bestselling books on climate change, science and global challenges, and his work has featured in major media outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian and The Times. With pioneering reports from the Amazon to Antarctica, David has been praised by Sir David Attenborough as “a leader in raising awareness about the climate emergency”. His book, The Response: A Story of Fire and Flood in Britain’s New World of Extremes , was published earlier this year. Shirley Rodrigues Shirley Rodrigues was the London Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy between 2016 and 2024. She implemented programmes to tackle the climate emergency, reduce air pollution and restore nature including the Ultra Low Emission Zone, the world’s largest clean air zone of its kind. Previously she oversaw a global climate change grants portfolio at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) developing their first global cities strategy, and held various executive roles in local, regional, and national government in the UK. She currently holds various roles including on the C40 Cities Board, Our Common Air Commission, Breathe Cities Advisory Committee and Artichoke Trust and is an expert adviser to the Earthshot Prize and Smart Surfaces Coalition. Farhana Yamin Farhana Yamin is an international lawyer, author, funder, and climate justice activist. For over 30 years, her work has centered on supporting the Global South, particularly by providing legal advice and assistance to small island states and vulnerable communities in United Nations climate negotiations including helping them negotiate the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. She has nearly two decades of experience of working in climate philanthropy, working directly with some of the world’s largest climate philanthropy, pushing them to share power and resources for movements led by the Global South, especially those led by women, indigenous peoples & youth. In the last seven years she has played a leading role in bringing together those working on arts, culture and the creative and heritage sectors, including founding CultureCOP and a number of pioneering ceremonies & cultural interventions at climate summits, New York & London Climate Weeks and festivals such as Glastonbury. She is one of seven Global Thought leaders chosen by Be The Earth Foundation to act as a Wisdom Keeper Flow Funder. Apart from her legal training, she is a trained nature connector & experienced facilitator & convenor, organizing many nature based gatherings & networks. She has held numerous leadership, trustee & advisory positions including Climate Reframe, Greenpeace UK, WWF, Julie’s Bicycle & Tate Modern. She is currently Director of Impatience CIC, the Climate Justice & Just Transition Collaborative, a Richard von Weizsacker Fellow at the Bosch Academy, Berlin and an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford. Her contributions have earned her numerous accolades, including being named No. 2 on the BBC’s 2020 Power List, where judges described her as a “powerhouse of climate justice” and most recently being voted a life Fellowship by the Royal Institute of British Architects for her role in creating key provisions of the Paris Agreement. Dr Garyfallos Konstantinoudis Garyfallos Konstantinoudis is a lecturer at the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment. He also holds an Imperial Research College Fellowship. Prior to this he was an MRC Skills Development Research Fellow at the MRC Centre for Environment and Health. He did his PhD in Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Garyfallos gained an MSc in Biostatistics at the University of Glasgow and BSc in Mathematics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His current domain of research is on estimating the health related burden of climate change focusing on temperatures. Some of his work also include developing methods for calculating excess mortality due to extreme events such as the COVID-19 pandemic or the recent extremely warm summers. Watch Grantham Institute’s previous Annual Lectures on our YouTube playlist