Our governance

Laurence Borie-Bancel

Laurence Borie-Bancel was appointed to the position of Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of CNR by decree of the President of the Republic on December 17, 2021. She represents CNR, a founding member, on the IFGR Board of Directors.

She was previously Managing Director of the
Global Business Line Thermal of Engie. She has always worked in the development of electricity production assets, in France and internationally, successively in the electricity division of Gaz de France, then in the energy division of GDF Suez. In 2012, she became Deputy Managing Director of La Compagnie du Vent, in charge of the development of onshore and offshore wind projects, as well as solar projects. At the end of 2015, she joined Engie’s Generation Europe Business Unit where she was responsible for the operation of thermal assets in several European countries (France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece). In 2018, she was appointed Managing Director of Elengy.

Jean-Louis Chaussade 

Former Chairman (2019/2020) and CEO of Suez, one of the world’s leading companies in water and waste management, Jean-Louis Chaussade joined IFGR as an administrator in November 2020. He has devoted most of his professional career to the environment and has contributed to placing it at the centre of international debates on climate change. He has worked hard to promote the circular economy and the protection of the oceans against plastic pollution. He has published two works: “le XXIème siècle, le siècle de l’eau ? (The 21^st century, the century of water? (Nouveaux Débats publics) and “Les 100 mots de l’eau” (The 100 words of water) (Que Sais-je ?) in 2012. He is currently Special Councillor of the company Accuracy.

Erik Orsenna 

Educated as an economist, Erik Orsenna started his career in research and teaching in international finance and development. In 1981, he joined the cabinet of Jean-Pierre Cot, Minister of Cooperation, before becoming cultural councillor to the French President, François Mitterrand. Then, in the 1990s, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work on democratisation in Africa and relations between Southern Europe and North Africa. He became a member of the State Council in 1985 and is currently an honorary State Councillor.

In parallel with his administrative activities, he has written many novels and reference works on globalisation (L’Avenir de l’eau – The future of water, Voyage aux pays du Coton – Journey to the cotton countries, Sur la route du papier – On the paper road, Géopolitique du moustique – Geopolitics of the mosquito). He was elected to the French Academy on 28 May 1998, to fill the chair of Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Sea voyages play a key role in his life. He is ambassador of the international networks of the Pasteur Institutes and he is a co-founder of Initiatives for the Future of Great Rivers, which he has chaired since it was founded.

Tamsir Ndiaye 

From Senegal, Tamsir Ndiaye was educated as an engineer. He has devoted his whole professional career to the Organisation for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS), where in particular he has fulfilled the functions of Director of the Environment and Sustainable Development and Managing Director of the Diama Management and Operating Company (SOGED). He currently heads the Manantali Energy Management Company (SOGEM) in Mali. The treasurer of the association, he was re-elected as administrator representing the active members by the General Assembly in September 2020.