Quick Facts
Biography
Gérard Magnin (born 1951) was Executive Director of Energy Cities between 1994 and 2014, after having been the original founder of this European network that brings together about 1000 local authorities from 30 European countries. He has been Regional Director for the French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) in Franche-Comté region (FR) for ten years. Initially trained in electrical engineering, followed by economics and politics, he taught economic and social sciences for eight years.
A supporter of social innovation, he strives to integrate the energy and climate issue into the concerns of all of society’s stakeholders, especially those of local authorities. He regularly highlights the fact that the major innovations came from the field and that the networking of experiments and those responsible for them is a powerful factor for change. He continues to persuade national and European levels to acknowledge the fact that none of the EU objectives can be achieved without heavy involvement on behalf of the local authorities.
He was placed as a director on the board of EDF under request of the French government, but resigned in 2016 prior to a vote that supported Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor which he called 'very risky'.