IEA chief Birol: I hope we have learned from the war in Ukraine
Published: Saturday, Feb 10th 2024, 05:11
Volver a Live Feed
Almost two years after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, is counting on a learning effect for energy policy.
"I really hope that we have learned from this and that we diversify our energy imports and switch to energy technologies that are domestic and do not harm our climate goals," Birol told the German Press Agency in Paris.
"There were many problems in European energy policies, but the most important one was the excessive dependence on energy imports from a single country." He had repeatedly emphasized that this was a risk, Birol said, regardless of which country was involved. "But it wasn't just any country, it was Russia of all countries."
"Europe has gone through the crisis with a few bumps"
Nevertheless, Europe has made it through the crisis quite well. "Almost two years after the invasion, I can tell you that Europe has come through this crisis with a few bruises, but without any major destructive effects." We have seen that nobody has frozen to death.
Although there have been negative consequences for economies, they have not collapsed. Shortly after the start of the war, the IEA presented European countries with a ten-point plan to help secure their energy supply and not deviate from their climate ambitions. Many governments followed the recommendations.
Based in Paris, the IEA was founded in the mid-1970s in response to the oil crisis at the time. Today, it has 31 member states - including Switzerland - from South Korea to Austria and 13 associated states.
©Keystone/SDA
Spanish 
English 
German 
French 
Arabic