The International Energy Agency (IEA) has welcomed Dr. Fatih Birol as the new Executive Director.
The energy agency notes that having worked at the IEA for 20 years, Dr. Birol starts the job with an intimate knowledge of where its strengths lie and where – and how – it can improve its ability to effectively respond to the changes taking place in the global energy landscape.
Dr. Birol said: “It is the privilege of a lifetime to be chosen to run the IEA, and I am deeply honoured by the trust that each one of our 29 member countries has placed in me.”
The agency further said that Dr. Birol joined the IEA in 1995 and most recently held the positions of Chief Economist and Director of Global Energy Economics, with responsibilities that included directing the flagship World Energy Outlook publication. He is also the founder and chair of the IEA Energy Business Council, which provides a forum to enhance cooperation between decision-makers in the highest levels of government and industry.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Birol served in the Secretariat of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). He has also been a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All.
Dr. Birol becomes the seventh Executive Director to lead the IEA, which was founded in 1974. He succeeds former Dutch Minister Maria van der Hoeven, the agency has added.
[mappress mapid=”2500″]