IEA and Egypt strengthen cooperation with first-ever joint work programme

The IEA and Egypt today signed their first-ever joint work programme, committing to cooperate closely across key strategic issues including tackling methane emissions from fossil fuel use, renewable energy deployment and hydrogen production. 

The agreement was signed at the IEA's Paris headquarters following a meeting between IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, Egypt’s Minister for Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla and Egypt’s Ambassador to France Alaa Youssef. They also discussed the challenges facing the region in light of the current geopolitical tensions and the impact on global energy markets.

Minister El-Molla and Dr Birol first explored pathways to deepen institutional ties after Egypt joined the IEA as an Association country in February 2022. Today’s two-year joint work programme focuses on short- and long-term energy priorities for Egypt, with an emphasis on clean energy transitions, energy security and climate resilience. Workstreams outlined in the programme include emissions abatement in oil and gas activities, hydrogen, renewables, and collaboration on data and statistics.

“I am delighted that we will now step-up our cooperation with Egypt, an important member of the IEA Family, on crucial energy security and climate issues,” Dr Birol said. “We are eager to take forward new areas of cooperation with Egypt as the country accelerates its energy transition while ensuring supplies remain affordable and reliable.”  

Minister El-Molla stated: “The world is now looking for security, affordability and sustainability of energy supplies. As a producer and exporter of natural gas as the cleanest hydrocarbon fuel, Egypt is also well positioned to play a key role in the global energy transition through renewables. We look forward to collaborate as an active association member with the IEA to capitalise on its knowledge and expertise to support the road towards a just and orderly energy transition.”

The priorities set out in the programme underscore Egypt’s commitment to reducing its emissions, with the country having also recently joined the Global Methane Pledge and endorsed the Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 Initiative. 

The IEA’s Association framework allows the IEA to work closely and deepen cooperation with partner countries, sharing analysis, data and best practices. The framework was established in 2015 and the other Association countries are Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Morocco, Singapore, Senegal, South Africa and Thailand. The IEA Family is made up of 31 Members, 13 Association and 4 Accession countries.