The Embassy of France in the United States and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) held a seminar on the climate research program ‘Make Our Planet Great Again’, in Washington D.C. on October 17 and 18.

As a major player in the fight against climate change and as a way of upholding the spirit of the Paris Agreement, the French government launched this program in 2017, offering selected scholars the opportunity to continue their work in France and contribute to meeting the challenges highlighted at every COP.

To celebrate the outcomes of the MOPGA program and discuss enhanced government- and researcher-level collaborations between our two countries, 15 U.S. and Canadian scientists who were awarded grants of up to €1.5 million through the MOPGA program were invited to discuss their research and explore avenues for strengthening collaboration.

The first day consisted of high-level presentations and discussions on climate and environmental research and was concluded by a lecture given by Dr. Susan Solomon, Chair of the Program in Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The second day was dedicated to presentations and discussions aimed at shaping avenues for strengthened collaboration between France and the U.S. on the fields of climate and environmental research.