12 February 2015: Fatih Birol has been appointed the next Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and will begin his term on 1 September 2015. Birol joined the IEA in 1995 and currently holds the positions of Chief Economist and Director of Global Energy Economics.

Birol oversees the IEA’s World Energy Outlook publication and has served as a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All. Prior to joining the IEA, Birol served in the Secretariat of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Commenting on the global climate deal being negotiated this year in advance of the UN climate conference in Paris in December 2015, Birol said that such a deal should enforce deep CO2 emission reductions to give a “crystal clear signal to investors that the time for the low carbon economy has come, and is here to stay.” He said that in order to remain below 2°C “we need to give new shape to energy investment and increase low carbon investments four times beyond current levels.”

Birol will succeed Maria van der Hoeven, whose term concludes on 31 August 2015.[IEA Press Release]