How the ‘rich man’s energy club’ became a climate champion

Zero: The Climate Race

Bloomberg

Technology, Business, Science

4.7 • 219 Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2023

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How do you rebuild an international organization for the climate era? That’s what the Paris-based International Energy Agency has done over the past decade. Founded in 1974 to secure oil supplies for its members, the IEA has become a leading voice on the need to cut emissions. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi asks Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, when global emissions will peak, if it’s possible to get there sooner, and why India’s solar revolution is keeping him optimistic.

Want to know more about the IEA story? Pre-order Akshat’s book, Climate Capitalism, here.

Read a transcript of this episode, here.

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd and our senior producer is Christine Driscoll. Special thanks this week to Eric Roston, Kira Bindrim and Will Mathis. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Zero. I'm Akshadrati. This week, dirty data, directorial debuts, and depolarized debate.
0:19.6	When you think about Paris, you think about the smell of butter rafting from patissaries, accordions, playing outside the Louvre, and, if you time it right, the occasional mass protest against pension reform.
0:31.6	When I think about Paris, I think about the brutalest concrete building next to the Eiffel Tower.
0:38.7	It's home to the International Energy Agency, a small but very influential intergovernmental
0:44.3	organization that shapes all our futures, even if we don't know it.
0:50.0	Better known as the IEA, it was founded in 1974 in response to the oil crisis.
0:56.0	And according to its executive director, Dr. Fati Birol,
1:00.0	it started out as a rich man's energy club, working to make sure OECD member countries had enough oil at all times.
1:09.0	For decades, that was its mandate.
1:11.6	The IEA's work was key to creating strategic petroleum reserves.
1:15.6	Essentially, huge tanks of crude stored away to be used in emergencies.
1:20.6	But under Fati, the organization has changed.
1:23.6	It now offers different kinds of memberships,
1:26.6	which has allowed it to bring on board
1:28.3	giant energy consumers like India and China, even though they are not part of the OECD. The IE also
1:35.3	looks out for the poor by working to ensure that they have access to energy. And after years of criticism
1:41.3	for underestimating the growth potential of renewables, it has now become an authority on clean energy.
1:48.0	In 2021, the IEA made headlines around the world
1:52.0	by releasing a report that said,
1:54.0	if we want to achieve net zero by 2050,
1:57.0	there should be no new investment in fossil fuel infrastructure, period.
2:01.9	It's a big call for an organization founded to secure oil, and a much-needed correction
	...

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