Timothée Ourbak
Overview
Timothée Ourbak is trained as a climatologist and has experience in climate diplomacy, with a particular interest in adaptation issues. Currently, he heads the Nature Unit at AFD's office in Morocco.
Climate issues are at the heart of Timothée Ourbak's professional career. After completing a doctorate at the University of Bordeaux 1 in partnership with the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), he became a researcher at the University of South Florida, in the United States. He then worked in West Africa (Mali and Niger) implementing development projects linked to adaptation to climate change, first for an NGO and then for an intergovernmental organisation.
Building on this experience, Timothée Ourbak joined the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development in 2013, where he worked as part of the ‘French climate team’ on preparations for COP21, which led to the Paris Agreement in 2015. He also worked with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Timothée Ourbak joined AFD's climate change division in 2017 and then moved closer to the field, first in Guinea and then in Morocco, where he has been working since September 2023.
Research program
AFD publications
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Publications as an author
Research documentpublished in November 2024
Specialized PublicationsGuides and Practical Toolspublished in October 2019
Specialized PublicationsGuides and Practical Toolspublished in October 2019
Scientific papers
- « L’Océanie, championne de la lutte contre les changements climatiques sur la scène internationale ? », with B. Quinquis and CF. Cristofari, Journal de la Société des Océanistes, vol. 149, pp. 211-221, 2019.
- « The Paris Agreement and climate change negotiations: Small Islands, big players », with AK Magnan, Regional Environmental Change, vol. 18, pp. 2201-2207, 2018.
- « Changing the game: the Paris Agreement and the role of scientific communities », with L. Tubiana, Climate Policy, vol. 17 (7), pp. 819-824, 2018.
- « Analyse rétrospective de la COP 21 et de l’accord de Paris : un exemple de diplomatie multilatérale exportable ? », Expert Report, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, 24 p., 2017.
- « Adapting to climate variability and change in smallholder farming communities: A case study from Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger », with B. Sarr, S. Atta, M. Ly, S. Salack and S. Subsol, Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, vol. 7 (1), pp. 16-27, 2015.
- « Climate Change Knowledge Platforms Targeted at West Africa: A Review and a Focus on the New CILSS Platform », with A. Bilgo, Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation, pp. 2051- 2061, 2015.
- « Potential imprint of Spörer and Maunder solar minima on coral skeleton carbon isotopes », with B. Malaizé and T. Corrège, Climate of the Past Discussions, vol. 3 (5), pp. 1021-1035, 2007.
- « Variations climatiques interannuelles à interdécennales dans le Pacifique Tropical telles qu’enregistrées par les traceurs géochimiques contenus dans les coraux massifs », PhD thesis, University of Bordeaux 1/IRD, 2006.
- « A high‐resolution investigation of temperature, salinity, and upwelling activity proxies in corals », with T. Corrège, B. Malaizé, F. Le Cornec, K. Charlier, JP. Peypouquet, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, vol. 7 (3), 13 p, 2006.
- « ENSO and interdecadal climate variability over the last century documented by geochemical records of two coral cores from the South West Pacific », with T. Corrège, B. Malaizé, F. Le Cornec, K. Charlier, JP. Peypouquet, Advances in Geosciences, vol. 6, pp. 23-27, 2006.
Articles for the general public (in French)
For The Conversation France
- « Face aux sécheresses chroniques, l’idée de recycler les eaux usées fait son chemin », 10 December 2024.
- « En Guinée, les vertus du « riz de boue » qui pousse dans les mangroves », 24 January 2024.
- « Le coronavirus de demain sera-t-il marin ? », 5 October 2020.
- « Fonds vert pour le climat, des projets malgré tout », 21 October 2018.
- « Une mobilisation croissante des acteurs de la finance climat », 26 September 2018.
Opinion columns
- « Les îles, en première ligne face au changement climatique », Les Echos, 29 April 2018.
Articles
- « (In)action climatique », with B. Gonda, Cahier de tendances 2019 (Fondation Jean Jaurès), pp. 53-57, 2019.
- « Groenland AOC », La France qui vient, Cahier de tendances 2020 (Fondation Jean Jaurès), pp. 80-85, 2020.
Podcast
- Coopération internationale : les défis d’aujourd’hui et de demain, « Avec ou sans parures », 7 January 2025.