Philippe Le Billon holds an MBA and a PhD in Geography and works on the linkages between environment, development, and security. He was previously a Research Associate with ODI, IISS, UNU-WIDER, and a Fulbright Research Chair at UC Berkeley. Philippe conducted fieldwork in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. He has also published widely on natural resource governance including The Great Green Grab (Hurst, 2026), Oil (Polity Press, 2017 with Gavin Bridge), Wars of Plunder: Conflicts, Profits and the Politics of Resources (Oxford UP, 2013).
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Countries must back commitments to transition from fossil fuels with action
Many participants framed the first international Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta as a historic turning point. Yet the gap between past climate commitments and real-world progress suggests caution about what this latest initiative can achieve.
June 5, 2026
