Camus – whom I mention so often here – was extremely topical in 2020, with all these men confronted with the tragedy of existence, the mystery and injustice of suffering, letting themselves be guided by rumors and conspiracy theories, paying a heavy price for their recklessness sometimes (The Plague).
But Camus is also the author of this beautiful letter to his teacher Louis Germain, shortly after being awarded the Nobel in literature.
“Without you, without this loving hand you extended to the poor little child that I was, without your teaching, and your example, none of this would have happened.”
So of this so singular year 2020, rather than the pandemic, I want to keep a special moment of emotion.
It was October 21: at Dauphine University, as in all French educational institutions, we decided to honor the memory of Samuel Paty with a minute of silence …
Beyond the issue of freedom of expression, it was also about transmission.
“Transmit”: what a beautiful word!
The subjects for reflection that I cover on my blog (climate and environment, sustainable finance, social responsibility), I will continue to cover them in my two courses at Dauphine (Economics of Climate Change and International Project Financing). But also in the field of Learning and Development, by offering training modules and interventions on these themes.
Those who have understood the seriousness of the challenges to be met must thus pass on.
So, this will be my word for this year which begins: Transmit!
And I wish you all a happy new year 2021.
Camus, since we always come back to him, once wrote to René Char: “Next year I would like to reduce my life to the essentials, as much as possible, and you are in this essential” … to slip to those who are dear to you!
Thank you to all those who make me the friendship for being faithful to my little blog!
Sincerely
Laurent
Iconography: morning take-off in a hot air balloon, Haute-Loire, France (personal collection)
After working as an international banker for emerging countries, Laurent Lascols became global head of country risk / sovereign risk (from 2008 to 2013) then global director of public affairs (from 2014 to 2019) for Societe Generale. In 2021, he founded Aristote, an advisory firm and training organization dedicated to environmental economics, sustainable finance and impact finance.