Fatih Birol

As Chair of the International Energy Agency (IEA), economist Fatih Birol is driving the global energy transition. He has played a key role in the organization’s change of course from securing Western oil supplies to expanding renewables and achieving global climate targets. Birol has been with the IEA since the mid-90s and has led the organization since 2015. Under his leadership, the IEA publishes influential reports such as the “World Energy Outlook”. In its climate scenarios, the OECD authority has been warning for several years that climate targets can only be achieved if no new fossil fuel infrastructure is built. Birol’s statements and IEA reports on the subject of peak oil have made him an opponent of the oil organization OPEC, where he himself used to work. Birol is a die-hard soccer fan and honorary member of Galatasaray Istanbul (to profile). In 2009, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his work.