As Director of Biodiversity at Caisse des Dépôts (CDC)– France’s leading long-term investor serving local and regional economic development – and Chairman of CDC Biodiversité, Laurent Piermont has spent his entire career reconciling man and nature.

Laurent is an engineer in agronomics with a doctorate in ecology. In 1990 he joined Société Forestière, a subsidiary of Caisse des Dépôts and France’s leading specialist in forestry investment and served as Chief Executive Officer for over ten years. During this period, he also launched Mission Biodiversité within Caisse des Dépôts and in 2007 this culminated in the creation of CDC Biodiversité ­– France’s leading specialist in biodiversity offsetting – which he has headed ever since. Laurent Piermont has also helped to launch Mission Economie de la Biodiversité, which is part of CDC’s global commitment to innovation and biodiversity, and he has presided over the European Carbon Fund since 2005.

Laurent has also been awarded with both the Chevalier de l’Ordre national du mérite and Officier du Mérite agricole. He has written a number of articles and books, particularly two works published by Seuil: “L’énergie verte” (Green energy) (1981) and “Agir avec la nature – vers des solutions durables” (Acting in phase with nature – towards sustainable solutions”) Collection Science ouverte (April 2010).