| Fatih Birol | |
| Office: | Executive director of the International Energy Agency |
| Deputy: | Mary Burce Warlick |
| Term Start: | 1 September 2015 |
| Predecessor: | Maria van der Hoeven |
| Alma Mater: | Istanbul Technical University Vienna University of Technology |
Fatih Birol is a Turkish economist and energy expert, who has served as the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) 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[1] and China and stepping up work on the clean energy transition and international efforts to reach net zero emissions.[2]
Birol was on the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people in 2021,[3] has been named by Forbes magazine among the most influential people on the world's energy scene[4] and recognised by the Financial Times in 2017 as Energy Personality of the Year.[5] Birol is the chairman of the World Economic Forum (Davos) 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.[6]
Prior to joining the IEA as a junior analyst in 1995, Birol worked at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) 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.
A Turkish citizen, Birol was born in Ankara in 1958. He earned a BSc degree in power engineering from the Istanbul Technical University. He received his MSc and PhD 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 prestigious Chinese Academy of Engineering.[7] He was made an honorary life member of the football club Galatasaray S.K. in 2013.
| 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 | [9] | |||
| Ordre des Palmes Académiques | France | 1 October 2006 | Paris | [10] | |||
| 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 | [11] | |||
| First Class Order of the Rising Sun | Japan | 30 January 2014 | Paris | [12] | |||
| Melchett Medal | United Kingdom | 2017 | [13] | ||||
| Chevalier of the Legion of Honour | France | 6 December 2023 | Paris | Chevalier (Knight) is the highest class in the Légion d'honneur and the highest French order of merit. | [14] [15] | ||
| Order of Zayed | United Arab Emirates | 22 May 2024 | Abu Dhabi | [16] [17] | |||
| Order of Diplomatic Service Merit | South Korea | 2 September 2024 | Seoul | Grand Gwanghwa Medal | [18] |