Authors – Abhishek Kulkarni, Swati Kumari, Samriddhi Jain
Keywords – France AI leadership, France green technology, France AI Summit 2025, France innovation hub, France renewable energy strategy, Scientific diplomacy France, France foreign investment 2025, France business expansion, Sustainable technology in France, France international trade and AI
Introduction
France is positioning itself as a global leader in AI governance, emphasizing sustainability and transparency. World leaders at the next AI summit have announced that they will focus on the impact on the environment and jobs, including the possibility of ranking the greenest AI companies. France will host the next global summit on 10 and 11 February 2025, with international politicians expected to attend alongside tech executives and experts. Paris’s special envoy for AI said discussions would include measuring the impact of technology on the environment. With the tech world undergoing a boom in artificial intelligence, France is looking to position itself as a leading hub. French generative AI companies have raised $2.29 billion to date, according to data from Accel and Dealroom, the most of any European country (Kharpal, 2023). This has been driven by considerable investments in buzzy French AI startups such as Mistral AI and H (Kharpal, 2024).
The French Tech Days India 2024, organized by Business France in collaboration with the Paris region between the 17 – 21 November 2024, has successfully marked a significant milestone in strengthening France-India ties in the tech sector. The event provided French tech companies a platform to expand their presence in India, one of the world’s largest and most dynamic technology ecosystems. Held alongside the prestigious Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS), French Tech Days 2024 brought together top French tech companies and Indian industry leaders, investors, and partners. The event featured a robust programme, including tailored B2B meetings, technical visits, and opportunities for innovation exchange, which enabled French companies to forge valuable partnerships and explore new opportunities within India’s growing tech sector.
This paper will attempt to examine France’s technological leadership in three dimensions: its pioneering role in renewable technology and green energy, its emergence as a global business hub, and its use of technological diplomacy to exert its influence.
Background
Decades of strategic policy development have shaped France’s evolution as a regional innovation and substantive development leader. The foundations of current French innovation policy trace back to the post-World War II establishment of research institutes like the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), which marked the commencement of state-led technological development (Mustar & Larédo, 2002). During this period, the state-dominated and financed research through extensive civil and military programs, resulting in government involvement in technology. This was known as the Colbertist strategy. Nevertheless, the classic Colbertist strategy of state intervention developed in the 1980s and 1990s towards more market-oriented policies and greater private-sector involvement (Cohen, 2007).
Academic research shows France became a big supporter of sustainable development following the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, significantly strengthening this commitment through the Grenelle Environmental Forum in 2007 (Whiteside et al., 2010). France’s innovation policy also intersects with its environmental goals (Blanc & Huault, 2013). An OECD report shows France has emerged as a hub for green technology and sustainable business practices (OECD, 2021). Significant gaps, however, do exist in current literature. First, there is minimal research on synergies between France’s innovation ecosystem and its environment diplomacy. Second, no such study has analysed how leadership in technology, business, and diplomatic influence enhances France’s global position. This paper attempts to address these gaps by analysing how France’s technology, business, and diplomacy come together to make France a leader in global innovation.
France’s Leadership in Renewable Technology and Green Leadership
As a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA) for almost three decades, France has played a crucial role in guiding international efforts to accelerate clean energy transitions. France has demonstrated important leadership in global climate negotiations, notably with the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015 and in promoting green finance. It has been among the first countries to adopt an energy transition framework with a National Low-Carbon Strategy and a 10-year investment plan for the energy sector. In 2019, France enacted into law its goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050. In 2023, renewable energy accounted for approximately 25% of France’s total energy consumption. The government’s ambitious targets and supportive policies have spurred growth in this sector. France is known for its rich history of innovation and a strong commitment to reducing carbon emissions. Among G7 members, France has the lowest CO2 emission per capita value in absolute terms. It has the least stringent goal in relative terms, with a target of a 40% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. According to Macron, France must be capable of producing more than 60 per cent of its electrical energy to meet the goals set for 2050. Despite being “behind” on renewable energy matters, he said, France can go carbon-free by 2050 (Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères, 2020).
Developing renewable energy sources will be instrumental to reaching net zero targets by 2050 and maintaining France’s low-carbon electricity mix, as the share of nuclear energy is expected to decline from 70% in 2019 to 50% by 2035, in line with the 2019 Energy and Climate Law. France is ambitious to boost the share of renewable energy to 33% in total energy consumption and 40% in electricity production by 2030. The government set ambitious near-term targets under the PPE for 2023 and 2028. There is a widening gap between ambition and development on the ground. France was one of the first countries to phase out the sale of new light-duty vehicles that use fossil fuels by 2040 as part of the Mobility Law, but deployment of EVs has been slower than expected. France is prioritising hydrogen with its national hydrogen strategy that focuses on industry and heavy-duty transport, underpinned by EUR 7 billion in public funding.
France has an ambitious objective: to become Europe’s first major decarbonised economy by achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. To reduce the impact of France’s economic activity on the environment, the recovery plan will significantly speed up the ecological transition and provide it with €30 billion. France will support the thermal renovation of buildings, the decarbonisation of industry, green hydrogen, cleaner transport and the transformation of the agricultural sector.
Impact of France on International Trade, Investment and Digital Infrastructure
France’s position as a major hub for international business and investment is cemented by its strong export environment, excellent market information, business-friendly regulations, and assistance with digital expansion. Since 2017, Team France Invest has created 185,000+ jobs, supporting over 6,900 investment projects. France has been the most attractive destination for foreign investment in Europe for the past three years. Business France is the national agency supporting France’s international business expansion and global attractiveness, providing economic reports, sectoral insights and regulatory guidelines to businesses. With over 56 international offices, it supports trade and investment. Paris 2024 Olympics offers business and branding opportunities for international firms. Ipanovia is another company in France that provides expertise in digital marketing, data insights and business intelligence. It promotes opening liaison offices, branches, or subsidiaries for international businesses in France. The Insurance APA covers and assures the risk of international failure expenses in French businesses (Ipanovia, 2025).
The France EXPORT Team, created by Business France, Bpifrance, and the French Chambers of Commerce and Industry, is a one-stop shop for French businesses expanding to a global network. It has supported 13,506 businesses in 2023, reflecting France’s proactive approach to global trade. CONNECT Business, EXCELLENCE France and PAVILION France provide International Business Networking and growth opportunities.
France has positioned itself as a leading AI hub in Europe, with a 27% rise in AI-focused startups within a year, totalling 751 in 2024. This reinforces its role as a key player in global AI innovation. The upcoming AI Action Summit in February 2025 will gather over 100 countries and 1,000 stakeholders from the private sector, research, and civil society to form a global coalition for sustainable AI—strengthening France’s influence in AI policy and development (Menardeau, 2025).
Under corporate France’s management, the VIE International Internship Program enables French companies to send young professionals (18–28) on six- to 24-month global assignments, allowing them to obtain international experience while promoting corporate expansion. With 4,500 business executives, the French Foreign Trade Advisors (CCE) network helps French companies expand internationally in more than 140 countries. In order to strengthen France’s standing as a significant commercial hub, they advise state officials, influence trade policy, draw in international investments, and work with 290 educational institutions to produce people with a global skill set (CNCCEF – French Foreign Trade Advisors, 2025).
France’s integration with global economic powers and its role in the European market is visible in the records of its primary sources of FDI, which include the United States (18.3%), Germany (14.1%), Switzerland (14.1%), United Kingdom (11.4%), Italy (6.7%), making it the 10th largest recipient of FDI globally in 2022. With 115 bilateral investment agreements (BITs), France can protect foreign investments and fortify its diplomatic and economic relationships in several international industries (Foreign Investment in France – Santandertrade.com, 2025).
France is also a leader in expanding global broadband infrastructure, with projects like the LION2 and ACE submarine cables, enhancing connectivity in Africa and the Indian Ocean region (Submarine Telecoms Forum, Inc., 2010). France’s role as a global digital hub is reinforced by projects like the 2Africa submarine cable, the world’s largest, and the Beaufort cable, developed with Amazon Web Services and Vodafone, strengthening its tech ecosystem (Yates, 2024).
France’s Scientific Diplomacy and Soft Power
France has emerged as a huge player in diplomacy through science in the 21st century. To put this simply, through research and development, France has extended its international influence and soft power. As Ruffini (2020) notes, France ranks at the top of soft power country classification, and its influence extends beyond economic rank, size, and population.
One of the major characteristics of France’s scientific diplomacy is its presence in almost every country on the planet. France has or has had scientific collaborations with 32 countries in the Americas, 49 in Europe, 36 in Asia, 49 in Africa, and 8 in Oceania (Noruzi, 2023). This totals up to 174 countries across all the continents (barring, of course, Antarctica). Through national institutions like the CNRS, Research Institute for Development (IRD), and INSERM, the government has been able to grasp a hold on each and every part of the globe.
France’s soft power can also be seen in its approach to the global academia of scientific networking. 58% of French scientific publications involve international authors. Initiatives like PAUSE – which hosts and supports exiled professors, and “Make Our Planet Green Again”, meant for climate research, demonstrate France’s will to support not just academia but a scientific revival of our planet (Ruffini, 2020). This could be attributed to France’s historical commitment to research collaboration. Between 1990 – 1996, France’s public and private laboratories were engaged in around 42,000 collaborations, with more than three-quarters involving European (mainly EU) partners (Papon, 1998). This has helped France maintain its hold over the EU, then and even in contemporary times. Integration with the EU is boosted even more through European programmes like Eureka, as they have opened up French science and technology to cooperation (Papon, 1998).
The nation is also heavily involved in pharmaceutical research strategies through platforms such as the Innovative Medicines Initiative (Demotes-Mainard et al., 2006). This has positioned France as a very important player in research strategies. France has created economic value by emulating the American and Japanese models of developing biospheres (Demotes-Mainard et al., 2006). France has taken another action of note: its focus on knowledge sharing with developing nations. This is especially true in the Françafrique, all of whom were former colonies. France has attracted international students from such countries through scholarship programs and other special programs that support international startups and other entrepreneurial ventures (Ruffini, 2020). The approach goes beyond just scientific exchange. Noruzi (2023) suggested that France uses science diplomacy to “foster international relations and address global challenges”. This promotes international collaboration through joint research, innovation projects, and knowledge-sharing.
All in all, France uses scientific diplomacy as a tool to exert its global influence. The nation transforms research into diplomatic soft power and makes science and innovation key drivers of its international strategy.
Additional Sources
France plays a significant role in international trade, and its GDP is highly influenced by it through trade agreements, foreign investments, and economic partnerships within the EU and beyond. The World Bank’s most recent figures state that commerce accounts for 73% of its GDP, making it the ninth-largest exporter and seventh-largest importer of goods worldwide (WTO). The United States (7.9%), Belgium (7.9%), Spain (7.6%), the United Kingdom (5.7%), Germany (13.7%), Italy (9.2%), and the Netherlands (4.2%) were the top export destinations in 2022, while Germany (13.7%), Italy (9.2%), the United States (7.9%), Belgium (7.9%), Spain (7.6%), and the United Kingdom (5.7%) (data Comtrade) were the top importers (Foreign Investment in France – Santandertrade.com, 2025). France has strategically adapted to changing global trade patterns over the past two decades. While it maintains a structural deficit in its goods balance primarily due to energy imports, its service trade has consistently achieved a surplus. This evolution reflects France’s successful integration into global value chains, with French businesses significantly increasing their imports and exports of business services. Though tourism has traditionally been a key contributor to the services surplus, its relative proportion in trade flows has declined as France has diversified its services sector (Twenty Years of Growth in France’s Trade in Services | Banque De France, 2021).
France’s strategic position in international trade is reinforced by its membership in key international economic organizations, including the ICC, European Union, WTO, European Economic Area, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, G-20, IMF, and OECD. These memberships have supported France’s continued adaptation to evolving global trade patterns (Foreign Investment in France – Santandertrade.com, 2025).
Conclusion
France has emerged as a global innovation leader by their three-legged strategy. This strategy has centred on green protection and renewable technology, symbolized by sustainable action. France’s ranking as the most appealing country to foreign investors in Europe for three years in a row and its full range of support systems for the establishment of international companies is a reflection of its position as a leading economic hub.
France’s science diplomacy has been a resounding success, with cooperation with 174 countries and 58% of French scientific papers co-authored with international partners. By activating programs like PAUSE and “Make Our Planet Green Again,” France has been able to leverage its scientific capabilities in order to enhance its soft power and global influence. With France hosting the AI Action Summit in February 2025, its leadership in the regulation of artificial intelligence and the creation of sustainable technology further secures its position as a leading innovation hub for technological innovation.
References
Blanc, A., & Huault, I. (2013). Against the digital revolution? Institutional maintenance and artefacts within the French recorded music industry. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 83, 10–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2013.03.009
CNCCEF – French Foreign Trade Advisors. (2025, January 7). French Foreign Trade Advisors or CCES | Presentation. https://www.cnccef.org/en/our-passion-france-our-mission-the-world/
Cohen, E. (2007). Industrial policies in France: the old and the new. Journal of Industry Competition and Trade, 7(3–4), 213–227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10842-007-0024-8
Demotes-Mainard, J., Canet, E., & Segard, L. (2006). Public-Private Partnership Models in France and in Europe. Thérapie, 61(4), 325–334. https://doi.org/10.2515/therapie:2006059
Foreign investment in France – Santandertrade.com. (2025, February). https://santandertrade.com/en/portal/establish-overseas/france/foreign-investment
Ipanovia. (2025, January 17). Expanding your Business in France – International Trade. Your Trusted Consulting Partner for Global Expansion. https://www.ipanovia.com/business-france-trade/
Kharpal, A. (2023, June 19). France makes high-profile push to be the A.I. hub of Europe setting up challenge to U.S., China. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/19/france-makes-push-to-be-europes-ai-hub-setting-up-us-challenge-.html
Kharpal, A. (2024, June 12). Microsoft-backed Mistral AI raises $645 million at a $6 billion valuation. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/12/mistral-ai-raises-645-million-at-a-6-billion-valuation.html
Menardeau, E. (2025, February 6). AI: A driving force for innovation in France – Business France Nordic. Business France Nordic. https://world.businessfrance.fr/nordic/ai-a-driving-force-for-innovation-in-france/
Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères. (2020, September). France Relance recovery plan: building the France of 2030. France Diplomacy – Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/economic-diplomacy-foreign-trade/promoting-france-s-attractiveness/france-relance-recovery-plan-building-the-france-of-2030/
Mustar, P., & Larédo, P. (2002). Innovation and research policy in France (1980–2000) or the disappearance of the Colbertist state. Research Policy, 31(1), 55–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0048-7333(01)00107-x
Noruzi, A. (2023). French Science Diplomacy and International Science: A Scientometric Analysis. Informology, 2(2), 1–12. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377557307_French_Science_Diplomacy_and_International_Science_A_Scientometric_Analysis
OECD. (2021). OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2021: Times of Crisis and Opportunity. In OECD. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/75f79015-en
Papon, P. (1998). Research institutions in France: between the Republic of science and the nation-state in crisis. Research Policy, 27(8), 771–780. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0048-7333(98)00089-4
Ruffini, P.-B. (2020). France’s Science Diplomacy. Science & Diplomacy, 9(2). https://www.sciencediplomacy.org/sites/default/files/ruffini_june_2020.pdf
Submarine Telecoms Forum, Inc. (2010, September 24). France Telecom-Orange signs agreement for new submarine cable in the Indian Ocean. SubTel Forum. https://subtelforum.com/88france-telecom-orange-signs-agreement-for-new-submarine-cable-in-the-indian-ocean/
Twenty years of growth in France’s trade in services | Banque de France. (2021, July). Banque De France. https://www.banque-france.fr/en/publications-and-statistics/publications/twenty-years-growth-frances-trade-services
Whiteside, K., Boy, D., & Bourg, D. (2010). France’s Grenelle de l’environnement : Openings and Closures in Ecological Democracy. Environmental Politics, 19(3), 449–467. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644011003690930
Yates, B. (2024, April 25). 9 of Europe’s most important submarine cable projects | Capacity Media. Capacity Media. https://www.capacitymedia.com/article/2d0tkm9h4o2jcptw4w740/feature/9-of-europes-most-important-submarine-cable-projects
