Nicolas Hulot

Nicolas Hulot
Nicolas Hulot in 2008
Born	(1955-04-30) 30 April 1955 (age 61) Lille, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Journalist, writer, environmentalist

Nicolas Hulot (born 30 April 1955 in Lille, France – officier de la Légion d'honneur, chevalier des Arts et Lettres) is the founder and president of the Fondation Nicolas-Hulot, an environmental group first created in 1990.

He is well known in France for his documentary show "Ushuaïa" which focuses on nature and the environment. In his documentaries, he draws attention to environmental damage caused by humans and changes that need to be made to protect the planet.

His popularity has provided him with some influence in the French political debate. In 2007 he forced five of the major candidates to the French presidential election (including Nicolas Sarkozy) to sign an agreement which stated that the environmental crisis would have to become a high governmental priority.

Nicolas Hulot was candidate in the Europe Écologie-Les Verts primary for the 2012 French presidential election. He lost to Eva Joly.

In 2007, Nicolas Hulot warned candidates in the French presidential election that he would present himself as a candidate if ecology were not one of the main subjects of the elections. His high popularity – and some polls credited him with more than 15% of votes if he were to run – meant he represented a serious threat to other presidential candidates.

To avoid this event, 5 of the 12 candidates in the French presidential election signed his "Pacte écologique" (ecology pact), affirming that ecological problems would be key in all future political decisions. The importance of this pact, is however, questionable.

Some of the decisions made by the French government as a result of this pact are:

Nicolas Hulot has been criticised by some commentators, like Le Canard Enchaîné and supporters of uneconomic growth and political ecology who have criticised his use of the media and acceptance of funds from large firms, like EDF, L'Oréal and Rhône-Poulenc.