Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa

Dr Fatih Birol (@fbirol) has served as Executive Director of the International Energy Agency since 2015. Under his leadership, the IEA has moved to the forefront of global efforts to safeguard energy security while combatting climate change and managing the social and economic impacts of clean energy transitions.

After taking office, Dr Birol led the IEA in its first ever modernisation programme, focussing on “opening the doors” of the IEA to major emerging economies (including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa); making the IEA the global hub for clean energy transitions; and broadening the IEA’s energy security focus beyond oil. With new governments joining the IEA Family under his tenure, its share of global energy demand has risen from 40% to almost 80%.

Dr Birol took up his current position after rising through the ranks of the IEA over two decades. He has been named in the TIME100, TIME’s annual list of the world’s most influential people. He has also been named by Forbes as one of the most influential people in the world of energy and by the Financial Times as the Energy Personality of the Year. He chairs the World Economic Forum’s (Davos) Energy Advisory Board. He is the recipient of the French Legion of Honour bestowed by the President of France, the Japanese Emperor’s Order of the Rising Sun, the Gwanghwa Medal from the President of Korea, the Order of the Polar Star from the King of Sweden, the highest Emirati civil decoration from the President of the United Arab Emirates, and the highest Presidential decorations from Austria and Germany, among others. Dr Birol has been awarded a Doctorate of Science honoris causa from Imperial College London and been elected as an International Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Before the IEA, Dr Birol worked at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna. He earned a BSc degree in power engineering from the Technical University of Istanbul and received an MSc and PhD in energy economics from the Technical University of Vienna. He is an honorary life member of Galatasaray Football Club.