Overview

• Barbut, 69, succeeds Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who chose not to be reconducted in the Lecornu II government in the name of a stated rupture.
• Her résumé spans senior posts at AFD and UNEP, leadership of the Global Environment Facility, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, and the presidency of WWF France from 2021 to 2023.
• Political figures including RN officials and Les Patriotes leader Florian Philippot denounced her appointment, citing WWF’s stance that nuclear is not a sustainable long‑term energy source and its legal challenges to EU taxonomy rules.
• She takes charge of a ministry described as having limited room for manoeuvre after environmental policy rollbacks, budget cuts, and disputes over renewables and national agencies.
• The appointment lands less than a month before COP30 in Belém from 10 to 21 November, and she is one of eight civil‑society figures named to the Lecornu II cabinet.