Fatih Birol

Fatih Birol is a Turkish economist and energy expert, who has served as the executive director of the International Energy Agency since 1 September 2015. During his time in charge of the IEA, he has taken a series of steps to modernise the Paris-based international organisation, including strengthening ties with emerging economies like India and China and stepping up work on the clean energy transition and international efforts to reach net zero emissions.
Birol was on the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people in 2021, has been named by Forbes magazine among the most influential people on the world's energy scene and recognised by the Financial Times in 2017 as Energy Personality of the Year. Birol is the chairman of the World Economic Forum Energy Advisory Board. He is a frequent contributor to print and electronic media and delivers numerous speeches each year at major international summits and conferences.

Early life and education

A Turkish citizen, Birol was born in Ankara in 1958. He earned a B.Sc. in Power Engineering from the Istanbul Technical University. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Energy Economics from the Technical University of Vienna. In 2013, Birol was awarded a Doctorate of Science honoris causa by Imperial College London. In 2023, he was elected as a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Career

Prior to joining the IEA as a junior analyst in 1995, Birol worked at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna. Over the years at the IEA, Birol worked his way up to the job of Chief Economist, a role in which he was in charge of the IEA's closely watched World Energy Outlook report, before he became executive director in 2015.

IEA leadership

While at the International Energy Agency, Birol has overseen several major changes in the approach of the organization. The organization, which historically had been heavily in favor of the fossil fuel industry, has expanded its scope to include sustainable energy and more members. Under his leadership, association agreements increased with major producers of energy, especially with countries outside the OECD in the Global South, such as India and China. This new membership model mean that IEA member and Association countries represent over 75% of global energy consumption.
Birol's approach to running the organization is both securing energy security while also facilitating the Energy transition. In 2021, IEA chief Fatih Birol called on policymakers to do more to accelerate the clean energy transition and reduce emissions, saying that "Clean-energy technologies are slowly but surely going to replace the existing energy industry." This transition significantly changed the direction of the organization, which previously had focused almost entirely on fossil fuel market analysis.
Birol's influence on markets and the world energy community mainly derives from the data-rich reports produced by the IEA which the New York Times described as a "relentless spigot". His speeches and networking with world leaders at international meetings such as the United Nations Climate Change Conferences have also been influential.
Birol's work at the IEA has led to a number of his international honours and recognitions. Birol was on the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people in 2021, has been named by Forbes magazine among the most influential people on the world's energy scene and recognised by the Financial Times in 2017 as Energy Personality of the Year.

Beyond IEA

Birol is part of the Africa Europe Foundation's High-Level Group of Personalities on Africa-Europe Relations

Honours and medals

Ribbon bar	Award or decoration	Country	Date	Place	Note	Ref.
	Medal for Outstanding Service of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey	Turkey	1 October 2005	Ankara
	Ordre des Palmes Académiques	France	1 October 2006	Paris
	Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria	Austria	1 March 2007	Vienna
	First Class Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany	Germany	19 November 2009	Berlin
	Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic	Italy	14 June 2012	Paris
	First Class Order of the Polar Star	Sweden	11 December 2013	Stockholm
	First Class Order of the Rising Sun	Japan	30 January 2014	Paris
	Melchett Medal	United Kingdom	2017
	Chevalier of the Legion of Honour	France	6 December 2023	Paris	Chevalier is the highest class in the Légion d'honneur and the highest French order of merit.
	Order of Zayed	United Arab Emirates	22 May 2024	Abu Dhabi
	Order of Diplomatic Service Merit	South Korea	2 September 2024	Seoul	Grand Gwanghwa Medal