IEA MINISTERIAL


On 14-15 October 2009, the IEA held its two-day Ministerial meeting in Paris with the theme “Responding to Energy Challenges in Partnership”. Energy Ministers from the 28 IEA member countries met at OECD headquarters to share views on the key energy and environment challenges facing the world today.

  • How can governments best ensure energy security and sustainable energy supplies, especially in the wake of the global economic crisis?
  • What steps are necessary to improve energy efficiency, promote low-carbon technologies and achieve challenging climate change targets?
  • How can these challenges be addressed on a global basis, involving both IEA member countries and other key energy producing and consuming nations?

Hon. Maria van der Hoeven, Economic Affairs Minister of the Netherlands, chaired the meeting, which coincided with the 35th anniversary of the IEA. IEA partner countries China, India and Russia were invited and participated for the first time together, along with three distinguished guest speakers, Dr. Henry Kissinger and Viscount Etienne Davignon - two key founders of the IEA - and Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

An opening session on the highlights of the upcoming World Energy Outlook 2009; Ministers were joined by members of the IEA Energy Business Council and representatives from industry in China, India and Russia

During the Ministerial, the IEA also launched two new publications. The IEA Scoreboard 2009: 35 Key Energy Trends over 35 Years assesses member countries’ progress in achieving their broad shared energy policy goals.  Implementing Energy Efficiency Policies: Are IEA Member Countries on Track? similarly analyses to what degree IEA member countries have implemented the Agency’s 25 energy efficiency recommendations which could reduce worldwide CO2 emissions by 8.2 gigatonnes per year by 2030.  In addition, five new energy technology Roadmaps were released: Carbon Capture & Storage; Cement Sector; Electric Vehicles/Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles; Solar Photovoltaic; and Wind Energy.  Roadmaps identify barriers — both technological and policy-related — to the deployment of clean technologies and recommend solutions on how these can be overcome.


Click here for IEA Ministerial interviews with Viscount Davignon, Dr. Kissinger, Dr. Pachauri and Minister van der Hoeven.
Click here to see photos from this event.