Episode #39: Climate Leaders 101: Anne Hidalgo

In this episode, we sat down with Alice Girotto and Bryan Thorne to explore the urban climate leadership of Anne Hidalgo, the long-serving Mayor of Paris. Known for her bold policies to reshape the French capital, from low-emission zones and car-free initiatives to green urban planning and energy-efficient housing, Hidalgo has positioned herself as a global voice for sustainable cities. We discuss how her leadership during COP21 and her ambitious Bioclimatic Urban Plan have transformed Paris into a laboratory for climate governance, and what her approach tells us about the power and limits of city-level action.

This episode is the second in a series of six as part of the IExRAIA Summer Research Program of 2025. RAIA has invited twelve IE University students to join our think tank and spend 9 weeks researching a figure from around the world to try to answer a simple question: Are they a climate leader?

Don’t forget to read Alice and Bryan’s article (https://raiagroup.org/hidalgo-mild-aligning-climate-action-social-justice) and report (https://raiagroup.org/ie-university-x-raia-research-program-2025).