Back to where it started: FAERE 2026 in Dijon

This week I presented at the 13th Annual Conference of the French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (FAERE 2026, 10–11 September), hosted by Université Bourgogne Europe and organized by the LEDi and CESAER.

This conference was special to me for a reason that has nothing to do with the programme. Dijon is where I started the first two years of my bachelor in economics, and the sessions took place in the very building where I attended my very first lecture. Coming back there as a PhD candidate, to present my own research, was a small full-circle moment.

The paper

I presented “Development Goals, Emissions Costs? Climate and Development Finance vis-à-vis Local CO₂ Emissions” (more here) in the session Environment and Trade for Developing Countries, on Friday morning. First slot, 9:00, sharp start.

The session itself had a remarkably coherent line-up, which made the discussions easy to build on: Chloé Antoine (CREST) presented Agriculture, Trade and Biodiversity right after me, and Ariane Amin closed the session, presenting joint work with Morié Guy-Roland N’Drin on climate finance and energy–emissions efficiency in West Africa — development finance and emissions again, from another angle.

Thanks, Chloé

A special thanks to Chloé Antoine, who commented on my paper and gave me detailed and encouraging feedback.

She also made me discover websitecarbon.com, which estimates the CO₂ emitted when a page loads. I obviously ran the test on this very website — and the result led me to give it a proper carbon overhaul: self-hosted subset fonts, lighter pages, and a carbon disclaimer in the footer. An environmental economics conference that ends with a smaller website footprint is exactly the kind of spillover I am happy to report.

Back to Amphi Proudhon

Between sessions I walked again through the wood-panelled corridors of the faculty, past the same old noticeboards. And of course I had to stop in front of the doors of Amphithéâtre Proudhon — the very first amphitheatre I ever sat in, back when I knew nothing about economics except that I wanted to study it. A few years later, I was back a few doors away, presenting research of my own. If someone had told the first-year student in that amphi that this is where it would lead, I am not sure he would have believed it.

The corridors of the faculty — some things do not change.

The Palais des Ducs

We were also treated to a memorable social programme: the conference reception was hosted at the Palais des Ducs de Bourgogne, in the Salle de Flore — marble, chandeliers, and a crowd of environmental economists under a ceiling that has seen a few centuries of history.

The Salle de Flore during the reception.

And Dijon itself did the rest: medieval arcades, pastel facades, and that particular art of living that makes every detour feel like a postcard. Hope to be back for the next one !

Dijon, between two sessions.

Merci, Dijon

My sincere thanks to the organizing teams at LEDi and CESAER, and to Université Bourgogne Europe for hosting — and for letting a former student come home for two days.