TTI.5 Forum 2026 – Grand Séminaire
of the Diplomatic and
Consular Academy
of the Ministry for Europe
and Foreign Affairs
April 10, 2026
Mines Paris – PSL
60 Bd St-Michel, 75006 Paris
Environment, science, and technology in foreign policy-making: what should
scientific diplomacy be?
Friday, April 10, 2026 9am – 6pm (UTC+1)
École des Mines de Paris, 60 Boulevard Saint-Michel – Paris (Henri Poincaré Amphitheater)
The event will be held in French and English,
translation headsets will be available.
Our TTI.5 2026 Forum is organized as part of the Grand Séminaire held in collaboration with the Diplomatic and Consular Academy of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
In order to understand and implement scientific diplomacy that seeks to defend and promote national and European interests, while also protecting and regulating common goods through cooperation between states, what knowledge and practices do diplomats need?
What dialogue should be established between diplomats and scientists?
Speakers
Mr Godefroy Beauvallet
CEO of Mines Paris-PSL
Pr. Nadia Maïzi
Director of TTI.5, Professor at Mines Paris-PSL and Lead Author of the 6th IPCC Report
Mr Didier Le Bret
Director of the Diplomatic and Consular Academy
Pr. Daniel Franks
Director of the Global Centre for Mineral Security
(Sustainable Minerals Institute), Queensland University, Australia
Ms Catherine Lagneau
CEO of BRGM
(French geological survey)
Mr Louis Maréchal
Senior Adviser, Minerals and Mining, OECD
Dr Pauline Bucciarelli
TTI.5 postdoctoral researcher
Pr. Éric Masanet
Director of the Industrial Sustainability Analysis Laboratory, Santa Barbara University, California
Pr. Chloé-Agathe Azencott
Machine Learning expert, Mines Paris-PSL
Pr. Aarti Gupta
Global environmental governance specialist,
Wageningen University, Netherlands
Dr Sofia Kabbej
Security issues associated with climate change specialist, IRIS
Dr Damien Huygues
Head of the Geology team, Geosciences Mines Paris-PSL
Programme – April 10, 2026 – 9am-6pm
9am : INTRODUCTION
Mr. Godefroy Beauvallet, CEO of Mines Paris-PSL
Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs or Secretary General
Pr. Nadia Maïzi, Director of TTI.5, Professor at Mines Paris-PSL
and Lead Author of the 6th IPCC Report
9.45am : KEYNOTE
Pr. Daniel Franks, Director of the Global Centre for Mineral Security
(Sustainable Minerals Institute), Queensland University, Australia
11am : ROUND TABLE 1
“Mineral governance: the intertwining
of environmental and sovereignty issues”
Pr. Daniel Franks, Queensland University, Australia
Mrs. Catherine Lagneau, CEO of BRGM
Mr. Louis Maréchal, Senior Adviser, Minerals and Mining, OECD
Dr Pauline Bucciarelli, TTI.5 postdoctoral researcher, Mines Paris-PSL
Diplomat (details to follow)
1.30pm : ROUND TABLE 2
“Deployment of AI: challenges, climate impacts
and energy trade-offs”
Pr. Éric Masanet, Santa Barbara University, California
Pr. Chloé-Agathe Azencott, machine learning expert, Mines Paris-PSL
Diplomat (details to follow)
3.15pm : ROUND TABLE 3
“From subsoil to space: regulations and climate issues?”
Pr. Aarti Gupta, global environmental governance specialist,
Wageningen University, Netherlands
Dr Sofia Kabbej, security issues associated with climate change specialist, IRIS
Dr Damien Huygues, Head of the Geology team, Geosciences, Mines Paris-PSL
Diplomat (details to follow)
4.45pm : CONCLUSION
Mr. Didier Le Bret, Director of the Diplomatic and Consular Academy
Pr. Nadia Maïzi, Director of TTI.5, Professor at Mines Paris-PSL
and Lead Author of the 6th IPCC Report
5pm : TTI.5 Environmental Controversy Award
Civil Engineering Students, Mines Paris-PSL
About the event
The technological mutations currently underway (AI, intelligent systems, nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, etc.) are reigniting international competition between countries, whether it be to catch up, maintain or acquire a position, or even prevent rivals from doing so, in order to limit the decisive geopolitical gains they provide.
This competition is taking place against a backdrop of redefinition of existing interdependencies and value chains, and challenges the trade rules that have been accepted and encouraged for more than half a century. These technological advances are disrupting the balance of power and the mechanisms of regulation and cooperation at the international level, especially since they are mostly driven and financed by private investment.
In this context, science and technology are no longer seen as public goods to which every nation can and must contribute for the benefit of all, but as a key asset in international competition, which can be appropriated and therefore must be protected. Information technology, biotechnology, and green technology, the new levers of power, are also, like AI, true “force multipliers.”
It is in this spirit that the Draghi report, published in September 2024, urges Europe to step up investment in training, research, and innovation, particularly in digital technologies, with a view to closing the gap with the United States and China, but also to reducing its dependence on critical materials.
In many respects, science and technology are now more than ever at the heart of defining the major foreign policy priorities of world powers, whose approaches vary depending on whether they emphasize the preservation of global public goods or the strict defense of national interests.
Leadership in each of these areas is now widely regarded as a national security imperative.
Hence, for Europe, the question arises of a possible third way, in which diplomacy would attempt to reconcile conflicting imperatives:
- How to mobilize all available scientific and technological resources, both national and European, while preserving essential international cooperation?
- How can public and private actors be brought together by imposing essential rules of conduct and regulation on a global scale?
- How can brain drain be limited while maintaining the circulation of knowledge and encouraging the emergence of centers of scientific excellence in the South?
