Executive Director visits Luxembourg

LUXEMBOURG – Dr Fatih Birol, the International Energy Agency’s executive director, met with Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank, to discuss areas of mutual interest and cooperation.

Talking with Mr Hoyer and Andrew McDowell, the bank’s vice president responsible for energy, Dr Birol shared the IEA’s strategy and vision to create a clean energy hub and open the doors of the agency to emerging countries. They discussed holding an international meeting in Paris of all relevant International Financial Institutions to focus on best practices to finance clean energies, with a focus on energy efficiency. 

After the meeting, Dr Birol held a presentation on global energy market and investment trends to about 80 EIB staff and external guests, including Ambassadors in Luxembourg. Questions after the presentation touched on trends in climate emissions, the role of government policies in driving energy investment, prospects for innovative energy technologies and future role of IEA in the global energy debate, among others.  

Dr Birol also had a bilateral meeting with Mr Claude Turmes, Secretary of State for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure. He spoke about the IEA’s work as a growing clean-energy hub and invited Mr Turmes to the IEA’s forthcoming Global Energy Efficiency Conference, on 25-26 October.

Mr Turmes expressed support for the IEA’s work and the new Clean Energy Transitions Programme, particularly focusing on its projects on energy efficiency and transportation. The visit comes ahead of the IEA’s next in-depth report on Luxembourg’s energy policies, which will be published in 2019. 

Dr Birol meeting with Mr Turmes.