Patrick Lenain

Senior Associate

Patrick Lenain is a Senior Associate with the Council on Economic Policies (CEP). Prior to joining CEP, Patrick worked for 23 years at the OECD, where he led policy-advice work on topics ranging from macroeconomic policies, productivity, healthcare, income distribution, and climate change. He has co-founded the OECD Global Forum on Productivity, which gathers policymakers and academics to advance joint engagements and best practice on productivity. He is a member of Luxembourg’s National Productivity Council. Patrick also worked for the International Monetary Fund in several senior positions, including as Resident Representative in Kyiv, Ukraine, as well as at the European Commission and the French Treasury. He has been for 20 years an Adjunct Professor of Economics at Université de Paris-Est Créteil and has also taught corporate social responsibility at EM-Normandie business school. He has published five books on macroeconomics, international finance, and responsible business. Patrick graduated from Université de Paris-Dauphine with a Doctorate in Economics, where he wrote a PhD thesis on the benefits of international economic cooperation. He grew up in France and today lives in Paris.

Latest Publications

How Can Ministries of Finance Support the Low-Carbon Transition Through Coherent ‘Policy Packages’?

 | 13 April 2026
Fiscal, Monetary, Blog | Tags: Carbon Pricing, Energy, Industrial Policy, Policy Coherence, Tax Expenditures
The transition towards greener and more resilient economies is one of the defining economic opportunities of our time. From growth and innovation to enhanced competitiveness and long-term savings, the potential... continue reading

Insurance Protection for Climate-Resilient Progress

 | 27 March 2026
Fiscal, Monetary, Op-Eds | Tags: Climate Risks, Insurance, Vietnam
This op-ed was first published in the Vietnam Investment Review. The World Bank has estimated that about $300 billion of the country’s commercial and industrial assets are vulnerable to climate-related... continue reading

Confronting Climate Change in the Philippines: Building Resilience while Cutting Emissions

 | 13 February 2026
Fiscal, Blog | Tags: Carbon Pricing, Climate Risks, Energy, Renewables, The Philippines
Climate change is not a distant threat for the Philippines. Preparing for a warmer and more volatile future will require building on past progress in investing into climate change adaptation,... continue reading

Industrial Policy: ‘Europe Can No Longer Afford the Inefficiency of a National Patchwork’

 and | 30 January 2026
Fiscal, Op-Eds | Tags: Competition, Decarbonization, Europe, Fiscal Space, Industrial Policy
Faced with American and Chinese competition, Europe must undertake a radical shift: move from a mosaic of national subsidies to a unified and more intelligent industrial policy, argue Patrick Lenain... continue reading

Direction Ahead for Low-Carbon Development Finance in Vietnam

 | 15 January 2026
Fiscal, Monetary, Op-Eds | Tags: Economic Growth, Energy, Governing Finance, Industrial Policy, Vietnam
Climate finance is featured prominently in international climate negotiations, and a number of countries have published climate finance strategies outlining investment needs for mitigation and adaptation. Yet a narrow focus... continue reading

How Vietnam Can Ensure Greener Steel

 and | 21 November 2025
Fiscal, Blog | Tags: Decarbonization, Energy, Industrial Policy, Vietnam
The steel industry is an important pillar of Vietnam’s economic development. It provides input for the country’s rapid infrastructure expansion, it supports key manufacturing sectors such as construction and shipbuilding,... continue reading