Nicolas Jacques André Hulot (French: [nikɔla ʒak ɑ̃dʁe ylo]; born 30 April 1955) is a French journalist and environmental activist. He is the founder and honorary president of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation, an environmental group established in 1990.
Hulot ran as a candidate in the primary for the Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV) party in 2011, but lost to Eva Joly in the second round. He declined offers to be a government minister for Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, but in May 2017, he agreed to serve under Emmanuel Macron and was appointed Minister of Ecological and Solidary Transition in the first government of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe. In August 2018, he announced his resignation from the Second Philippe government, citing policy disagreements and leadership issues.
Hulot is an officer in the Legion of Honour and a knight in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2021, he announced his retirement from public life in response to a documentary outlining a series of sexual assault allegations against him.
Hulot was born 30 April 1955 in Lille to Monique Marguerite Marie Hulot (née Moulun), a pharmaceutical sales representative, and Philippe Marie Joseph Hulot, a gold miner in Venezuela. Hulot had one brother, Gonzaga, and a sister, Beatrice.
Hulot's father Philippe died when Hulot was fifteen years old. Gonzaga Hulot committed suicide on 24 December 1974 when Hulot was 19 years old.
Hulot took up rallying as a hobby when he was growing up and took part in the 1980 Dakar Rally, though he didn't finish the race due to difficulties with his vehicle.
From 1973 to 1978, Hulot worked as an agency photographer for Sipa Press where he documented the 1976 Guatemala earthquake and interviewed Ian Smith during the Rhodesian Bush War.
Hulot left Sipa Press in 1978 to move to France Inter after being offered work as a radio journalist and producer. Hulot debuted on television during the children's program Les Visiteurs du mercredi. Hulot also presented the short-lived educational programme Les Pieds au mur. Following this, Hulot became an evening reporter focusing on motorcycle events. Hulot left France Inter in 1987.
Hulot presented the television programme, Ushuaïa, le magazine de l'extrême which was focused around extreme sport and natural landscapes throughout the world. The programme was broadcast on TF1 and was co-produced by Hulot's then-girlfriend Dominique Cantien. Ushuaïa, le magazine de l'extrême made Hulot a household name in France. Ushuaïa, le magazine de l'extrême ran from 1987 to 1995. Hulot went on to present Opération Okavango (1996–1997) and Ushuaïa Nature (1998–2012). Hulot's contract with TF1 ended in December 2011 though four of the remaining Ushuaïa Nature episodes aired in 2012.
In 1990, Hulot founded the Ushuaia Foundation which became La Fondation Nicolas-Hulot pour la nature et l'homme in 1995 and which changed its name to La Fondation pour la nature et l'homme (The Foundation for Nature and Mankind) in April 2011.
Hulot and Gérard Feldzer, a former French airline pilot, experimented with airship prototypes originally developed by Didier Costes in 1992, and in 1993, the pair attempted to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Spain using an airship with pedals. The pair made it as far as 1,500 km before failing near the Cape Verde Islands.
Hulot set up partnerships for the Foundation with companies such as EDF, L'Oréal and TF1. In 2006, the National Museum of Natural History formed a partnership with La Fondation pour la nature et l'homme, organising annual events to bring people together to combat climate change.
In 2013, the foundation launched a think tank based around ecology.
In 2007, Nicolas Hulot told candidates in the presidential election that he would stand as a candidate if ecology were not one of the main themes of the election. Some polls estimated his support at around 15%. In response to his announcement, five of the twelve candidates in the election, including Nicolas Sarkozy, signed his Pacte écologique (ecology pact), stating that ecological issues would be central to all future political decisions.
2011 Europe Écologie-Les Verts primary
On 13 April 2011, while speaking in Sevran, Seine-Saint-Denis, Nicolas Hulot announced his candidacy in the Europe Écologie-Les Verts primary for the 2012 French presidential election. The announcement came a month after Hulot's calls for a referendum on nuclear energy following the Fukushima nuclear accident. Hulot was invited to a televised interview on the France Inter show 7/9 by Bruno Duvic.
Before the first round of the primary, some polls put Hulot ahead of Eva Joly, but he finally finished second with 40.22%, behind Joly with 49.75%. Hulot lost during the second round and Joly became the Europe Ecologie-Les Verts candidate.
For the French presidential election of 2012, Nicolas Hulot stated that he had voted for the Left Front's candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, during the first round. He said he found Melenchon more efficient on environmental issues than Joly. He supported François Hollande in the second round.