March 21st : British Council -Science Po conference on Uncertainty in Decisoin Making with Denis Duverne !

The British Council in France and the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), in collaboration with the AXA Research Fund are pleased to invite you to attend a public panel discussion: “Scientific uncertainty in decision-making”

To see the video of the conference, please visit this page.

The British Council in France and the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), in collaboration with the AXA Research Fund are pleased to invite you to attend a public panel discussion:

“Scientific uncertainty in decision-making”

Panel members:

Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, Chairman of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (UK)

Denis Duverne, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of AXA

The panel will be chaired by Laurence Tubiana, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI)

Monday 21^st March, 2011 – from 6:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m

Amphithéâtre Boutmy, Sciences Po, 27, rue Saint Guillaume, 75007 Paris

Recent debate on the role of human activity in climate change, on the efficacy of the H1N1 vaccine or on renewable energies policy, has brought the concept of scientific uncertainty to the forefront of public and media attention. But this debate has also brought to light the misunderstanding surrounding the concept and the dangers of its possible misappropriation.

With decision-makers required to take ever-increasing account of scientific uncertainties, the conference’s panellists will discuss their own experience of high-level decision-making and will explain how they have had to deal with scientific uncertainty whilst making strategic decisions. How do decision-makers – be they in the political, public or economic sphere – make decisions when they are confronted with uncertainty? What lessons can be drawn from recent experiences in France and in the United Kingdom where uncertainty has played a major role in supporting or discrediting a given position? What are the respective roles and responsibilities of scientists and the media in the public understanding of scientific uncertainty?

Professor Sir Michael Rawlins and Denis Duverne will address these questions and will then open up the discussion to the public.

Simultaneous interpretation into French and English will be available during the discussion

Please register for the debate on IDDRI website

or by email to Julie Cohen – julie.cohen@iddri.org

Professor Sir Michael Rawlins has been chairman of the National Institute of Health & Clinical Excellence (NICE) since its formation in 1999. NICE is an independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health. Sir Michael Rawlins is also Honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He was the Ruth and Lionel Jacobson Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne from 1973 to 2006 .At the same time he held the position of consultant physician and consultant clinical pharmacologist to the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust. He was vice-chairman (1987-1992) and chairman (1993-1998) of the Committee on Safety of Medicines; and chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (1998 - 2008).

Denis Duverne has been Deputy Chief Executive Officer of AXA, in charge of Finance, Strategy and Operations since April 2010. He is a graduate of the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC). After graduating from the École Nationale d'Administration (ENA), he started his career in 1984 as commercial counsellor for the French Consulate General in New York before becoming director of the Corporate Taxes Department for the French Ministry of Finance in 1986. In 1988, he became Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy for the French Ministry of Finance and, in 1991, he was appointed Corporate Secretary of Compagnie Financière IBI. In 1992, he became a member of the Executive Committee of Banque Colbert, in charge of operations. In 1995, Denis Duverne joined the AXA Group and assumed responsibility for supervision of AXA's operations in the US and the UK and managed the reorganization of AXA companies in Belgium and the United Kingdom. Since February 2003, Denis Duverne has been a member of the AXA Management Board. From February 2003 to December 2009, he was the Management Board member in charge of Finance, Control and Strategy. From January 2010 to April 2010, he assumed broader responsibilities as Management Board member in charge of Finance, Strategy and Operations.

Laurence Tubiana is founder of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) in Paris. She follows and participates in the international negotiations on climate change, in which IDDRI is highly involved. She is also professor and director of the Sustainable Development Centre at Sciences Po Paris. From May 2009 to May 2010, Laurence Tubiana was asked to set up the new direction of Global Publics Goods of the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. She is a member of several scientific boards of major research institutions such as the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), the India Council for Sustainable Development and the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. From 1997 to 2002, Laurence Tubiana served as senior advisor to the Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, on environmental issues and conducted a number of international negotiations on this subject. She was also member of the French Council of Economic Analysis and research director for the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA). She has been a representative of the European NGOs at the World Bank and directed the French-based NGO Solagral. Founder of the journal Le Courrier de la Planète, she has published a number of articles and books on environment, development and international issues. Since 2007, she has co-directed the publication of the annual review Sustainable Development in Action – A Planet for Life.

Related documents

• Download the Invitation to the event! And Register on the IDDRI website!