Barbara Pompili

Barbara Pompili
Minister of Ecological Transition
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 July 2020
Prime Minister	Jean Castex
Preceded by	Élisabeth Borne
Member of the National Assembly for Somme's 2nd constituency
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 June 2017
Preceded by	Romain Joron
In office 20 June 2012 – 12 March 2016
Preceded by	Olivier Jardé
Succeeded by	Romain Joron
Secretary of State for Biodiversity
In office 11 February 2016 – 10 May 2017
Prime Minister	Manuel Valls Bernard Cazeneuve
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1975-06-13) 13 June 1975 Bois-Bernard, France
Political party	La République En Marche! (2017–present) Ecologist Party (2016–present)
Other political affiliations	Europe Ecology – The Greens (2010–2015) The Greens (2000–2010)
Residence	Amiens
Education	Sciences Po Lille

Barbara Pompili (born 13 June 1975) is a French politician serving as Minister of Ecological Transition under Prime Minister Jean Castex since 2020.

Pompili has been the member of the National Assembly for the 2nd constituency of Somme since 2017, previously holding the seat from 2012 to 2016. A member of La République En Marche! (REM) since 2017, she was a member of The Greens (LV) from 2000 to 2010 and Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV) from 2010 until 2015. Pompili served as Secretary of State for Biodiversity from 2016 to 2017.

Education

Born in Bois-Bernard, Pas-de-Calais, Pompili grew up in Liévin. She graduated from Sciences Po Lille.

Political career

First elected to the National Assembly in the 2012 legislative election, Pompili was the first female president of a parliamentary group in the lower house, co-leading the EELV group with François de Rugy, from 2012 until 2016. She also served on the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs.

In 2016, Pompili was appointed Secretary of State for Biodiversity in the government of Prime Minister Manuel Valls, under the Minister of Ecology, Ségolène Royal. She was reappointed when the government of Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve took office. During her time in office, she notably oversaw the entry into force of a French tax targeting palm oil and a ban on neonicotinoids in 2016.

Pompili was an early supporter of Emmanuel Macron and the first minister in Hollande's government to openly support Macron's candidacy in the 2017 presidential election. She subsequently stood as a candidate of En Marche! (EM) in Somme's 2nd constituency, which she had represented from 2012 until 2016. She was reelected in the 2017 legislative election; Pompili has since been serving as chairwoman of the Committee on Sustainable Development. In this capacity, she led a 2018 parliamentary inquiry into France's nuclear safety and security.

In September 2018, after François de Rugy's appointment to the government, Pompili ran for the presidency of the National Assembly. In an internal vote within the LREM parliamentary group, she came in second; the position eventually went to the group's then-president Richard Ferrand.

Political positions

In July 2019, Pompili decided not to align with her parliamentary group's majority and became one of 52 LREM members who abstained from a vote on the French ratification of the European Union’s Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada. She also defended amendments on the transparency and labeling of genetically modified organisms used in food products in defiance of the government's advice, as well as opposed delays in the country's strategy to reduce pesticides use and the phase-out of glyphosate.