International
The International Energy Agency (IEA)
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is an autonomous body, based in Paris, which was founded in November 1974, within the framework of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to implement an international energy program.
The IEA has a comprehensive energy cooperation program among 31 of the 38 OECD member countries.
The IEA's main objectives are:
- maintain and improve systems to deal with oil supply disruptions;
- promote rational energy policies in a global context through cooperative relationships with non-member countries, industry and international organizations;
- operate a permanent information system on international oil markets;
- improving the structure of world energy supply and demand through the development of alternative energy sources and increasing efficiency in energy use;
- promote international collaboration on energy technologies;
- support the integration of energy and environmental policies.
IEA member countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States.
The Governing Board (GB) is the decision-making body of the IEA, composed of the Energy Ministers of each member country or their representatives. The GB holds three to four meetings at the Director General (or equivalent) level each year, where global energy developments and the Agency's recent and future work are discussed with the Executive Director and members of the Secretariat. The outcomes of GB meetings are binding on all member countries.
Once every two years, ministers from IEA member countries meet at the IEA Ministerial Meeting. This meeting sets out the overall strategic priorities for the IEA, along with the directions proposed at the regular GB meetings. While ministers can direct the IEA to focus on a specific issue, the direction they provide also comes from the discussions that take place at these meetings. Through the IEA Ministerial, the IEA Secretariat develops ideas for existing or new work programs, which it then discusses with member countries in the various IEA committees and finally presents to the GB for approval.
The GB also has ultimate responsibility for the administrative matters of the IEA, including the approval of the biennial Work Program and Budget.
The AIE is made up of four Standing Groups:
- Standing Group on Long-Term Co-operation (SLT) – encourages cooperation among IEA member countries to ensure collective long-term energy security, improve economic efficiency in the energy market and promote environmental protection in provision of energy services. The IEA in 1976 launched a long-term cooperation program for formulating and implementing energy policies. The SLT sensitizes member countries to ensure understanding and sharing of the main policy guidelines. The SLT meets three to four times a year to comment and analyze energy policy and share the results of the In-Depth Reviews (annually, the individual energy policies of six IEA member countries are analyzed by a technical team coordinated by the IEA), assess policy development related to prospective economic analysis of the energy sector, energy diversification and regulatory framework, as well as environmentally friendly energy use and energy efficiency policies. Prepares and reviews documents and reports to be submitted to the IEA's Meetings of Ministers. The SLT has established a specialized body for energy efficiency, EEWP.
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- Energy Efficiency Working Party (EEWP) - meets twice a year and aims to encourage cooperation between IEA member countries, aiming at improving energy efficiency. To achieve this objective, the EEWP collects information on energy efficiency programs and measures in member countries in order to address the question of the feasibility or desirability of setting targets by the SLT for reducing energy consumption growth rates, investigates what is meant by energy conservation and considers the impact that various measures can have on economic activities in general, develops criteria to assess the effort that member countries need to achieve the established objectives, taking into account that the efforts should be distributed in an equitable manner, proposes methodologies to the SLT that allow the development of systematic periodic review programs to assess and compare each country's energy efficiency measures and their progress.
- Standing Group on Long-Term Co-operation (SLT) – encourages cooperation among IEA member countries to ensure collective long-term energy security, improve economic efficiency in the energy market and promote environmental protection in provision of energy services. The IEA in 1976 launched a long-term cooperation program for formulating and implementing energy policies. The SLT sensitizes member countries to ensure understanding and sharing of the main policy guidelines. The SLT meets three to four times a year to comment and analyze energy policy and share the results of the In-Depth Reviews (annually, the individual energy policies of six IEA member countries are analyzed by a technical team coordinated by the IEA), assess policy development related to prospective economic analysis of the energy sector, energy diversification and regulatory framework, as well as environmentally friendly energy use and energy efficiency policies. Prepares and reviews documents and reports to be submitted to the IEA's Meetings of Ministers. The SLT has established a specialized body for energy efficiency, EEWP.
- Standing Group on Emergency Questions (SEQ) – responsible for all aspects of the IEA’s preparedness on oil and gas-related emergency issues, including global supply/demand outlook, production capacity and flexibility and works closely with the oil industry, namely through an Advisory Board (IAB - Industry Advisory Board). To ensure that IEA member countries are properly prepared for a quick and effective emergency response, SEQ conducts an Emergency Response Review for each country every 5 years. Emergency response mechanisms were established in 1974, with member countries assuming the maintenance of oil reserves equivalent to 90 days of net imports in the previous year; the planning and execution of SEQ work is carried out by the Emergency Planning Division of the IEA Secretariat.
- Standing Group on the Oil Market (SOM) – monitors and analyzes the evolution of the international oil market (in the short and medium term), in order to help IEA member countries to react quickly and effectively to situations of changing market conditions. It works closely with the Standing Group on Emergency Questions (SEQ) to help the SEQ develop plans for a quick and effective emergency response.
- Standing Group for Global Energy Dialogue (SGD) – responsible for the work carried out by the Agency in cooperation with non-Member countries. Support for this Group is provided by the Department of the same name, although many of the projects that are developed are done in close collaboration with other Departments of the IEA. This type of work already existed in the past, with the Agency always carrying out studies of policies and markets in geographical areas outside the scope of its members. The SGD has developed specific studies on oil in emerging regions such as the Caspian, Russia and West Africa; Energy Policies and Reforms – Following energy sector restructurings and reforms in many non-Member countries in Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, energy policy reviews were developed in the Black Sea Region, South Africa, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and India;
and a Committee:
- Committee on Energy Research and Technology (CERT) – coordinates and promotes the development, demonstration and deployment of technologies to address challenges in the energy sector.
CERT has established four working groups:
Working Party on Fossil Fuels, Working Party on Renewable Energy Technologies, Working Party Energy End-Use Technologies and Fusion Power Co-ordinating Committee.
Expert groups were also created under the CERT: Experts’ Group on R&D Priority-Setting and Evaluation and IEA Collaborative Platform for Oil and Gas Technologies.
The IEA's Technology Collaboration Program (TCP) is a series of around 40 international partnerships that enable governments, companies, industries, international organizations and non-governmental organizations to share research on innovative technologies, fill existing research gaps, build " pilot-plants” and carry out implantation or demonstration programs.
IEA Secretariat
The IEA Secretariat has a staff of energy experts recruited primarily from OECD member countries, who support the work of the GB and subordinate bodies. The IEA Secretariat is supervised by an Executive Director appointed by the Governing Board.
The Secretariat collects and analyzes energy data, organizes high-level workshops with internationally recognized experts on topics and themes, evaluates member and non-member country energy programs and policies, makes global energy projections based on different scenarios, and prepares studies and recommendations for energy policy for governments on the main energy sectors.
National Participation
Portugal participates through DGEG in GB, SLT, SOM, SEQ, EEWP, ESWG, EGC and EBC, with the SGD being accompanied by DGEG and OECD – PT.
CERT is accompanied by LNEG and FCT.
FOLLOW-UP MEETINGS
IEA WORKING GROUPS AND COMMITTEES
|
Committees and Working Groups |
Initials |
National Delegates |
|
Governing Board |
GB |
. Mr. João Bernardo |
|
Standing Group on the Oil Market |
SOM |
. Mr. Carlos Oliveira |
|
Standing Group on Emergency Questions |
SEQ |
. Mr. Carlos Oliveira |
|
Standing Group on Long Term Cooperation |
SLT |
. Ms. Isabel Soares . Mr. Luís Pires |
|
Energy Efficiency Working Party |
EEWP |
. Mr. Sandro Silva Pereira Head of Division of DGEG . Ms. Ana Oliveira . Mr. Carlos Pimparel |
|
Energy Statistic Working Group |
ESWG |
. Ms. Manuela Fonseca . Mr. Paulo Salteiro |
|
Ad hoc Expert Group on Electricity Generating Costs |
EGC |
. Ms. Manuela Fonseca |
|
Committee on Budget and Expenditure |
BC |
. |
|
Standing Group on Global Energy Dialogue |
SGD |
. Ms. Isabel Soares . Ms. Cátia Brito |
|
Energy in Buildings and Communities |
EBC |
. Mr. João Mariz Graça |
|
Committee on Energy Research and Technology |
CERT |
. Ms. Teresa Ponce de Leão |
|
Working Party on End-Use Technologies |
WPEUT |
. Mr. Paulo Partidário |
2022 Ministerial Meeting of the International Energy Agency
The 2022 Ministerial Meeting of the International Energy Agency (IEA) took place on 23 and 24 March 2022 with several world energy leaders present.
This meeting was chaired by Jennifer M. Granholm, U.S. Energy Secretary. More than 40 governments from around the world have been represented and the event took place in a context of energy market turbulence and apprehension about energy security stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraine's Deputy Energy Minister for European Integration, Yaroslav Demchenkov, attended this meeting as a special guest, and the Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko virtually attended a plenary session.
Ensuring energy security during the energy transition and leading the global energy sector's fight against climate change are areas covered by the new IEA mandates.
Ensuring that clean energy transition policies are people-centered and the need for better energy security, lower market volatility and speeding up clean energy transitions around the world were some of the themes highlighted by the participants of this Ministerial Meeting. Lithuania was also welcomed as a Member Country of the IEA and was announced that Argentina and Egypt as the new countries of IEA Association.
Source: International Energy Agency website.
World Energy Outlook (WEO)
The World Energy Outlook (WEO) is an annual publication of the International Energy Agency that provides critical analysis and insights on energy demand and supply trends, and their implications for energy security, environmental protection and economic development.
Detailed projections are generated by the World Energy Model, a simulation tool developed at the IEA and configured to replicate how energy markets work. It covers the entire energy system, allowing for a range of analytical perspectives, from global aggregates to elements of detail, such as the prospects for a particular technology or for end-user prices in a particular country or region.
WEO uses a scenario-based approach to highlight the main options, consequences and contingencies that lie ahead, and to illustrate how the energy system can be affected by changing some of the main variables, such as the energy policies adopted by the governments of the various countries.
World Energy Outlook 2021 (WEO 2021)
Based on dynamic markets and the COP26 conference on climate change in Glasgow, the 2021 World Energy Outlook (WEO) is an indispensable guide to the opportunities, benefits and risks ahead for clean energy transitions.
A new global energy economy is emerging, but the transformation still has a long way to go.
In 2020, as economies took the brunt of COVID-19 lockdowns, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar PV continued to grow, and electric vehicles broke sales records. Clean energy technology is becoming a new area for investment and employment – and a dynamic area for international collaboration and competition.
The rapid but uneven economic recovery from the COVID-19-induced recession in 2020 is putting great strains on the current energy system, causing sharp price rises in the natural gas, coal and electricity markets. Progress in the areas of renewable energy and electric mobility could be jeopardized if we continue to see the recovery in the use of coal and oil as in 2021. We are also witnessing the second largest annual increase in CO2 emissions. Public spending on sustainable energy in economic recovery packages has only mobilized about a third of the investment needed to boost the energy system, with the biggest deficit in developing economies, which continue to face a public health crisis. Progress in universal energy access has stalled, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. The transformation still has a long way to go to align with the IEA’s milestone “Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario” (NZE) of May 2021, which outlines a difficult but achievable roadmap for a stabilization of 1,5°C in increasing global temperatures and in achieving other energy-related sustainable development goals.
At this crucial stage for energy and climate, this edition of the World Energy Outlook is designed to support decision-makers at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) by outlining key decision points that can move the energy sector to safer ground. It provides a detailed analysis of where countries have come in their clean energy transitions, and where they have yet to go to reach the 1.5°C target, and the actions governments and others can take to seize the opportunities. With multiple scenarios and studies, WEO explains that the debate on energy and climate is crucial.
See full report [here]
In Depth Review – Portugal, 2021
The International Energy Agency (IEA) regularly reviews the energy policies of its member countries.
The In Depth Review – Portugal report was presented on July 7, 2021 and had the participation of the Executive Director of the IEA, Fatih Birol, and the Minister of Environment and Climate Action of Portugal.
In this report, the IEA provides a series of energy policy recommendations to support Portugal in managing the transition to an efficient, flexible and carbon neutral energy system. According to the IEA, Portugal has made remarkable progress towards carbon neutrality through widespread electrification of energy demand and a rapid expansion of renewable electricity production, along with increased energy efficiency. The IEA appreciated the efforts to reduce dependence on energy imports and to maintain access to affordable energy. It showed that Portugal continues to depend heavily on fossil fuels and has higher than desirable levels of emission of greenhouse gases.
The main recommendations presented were the following:
- Establish a broad stakeholder alliance to drive rapid implementation of the measures in the Roadmap for Carbon Neutrality, the National Energy and Climate Plan and the National Hydrogen Strategy, and to provide investor certainty on policy direction.
- Accelerate the reform to align energy taxes with decarbonisation goals and ensure that the carbon tax drives emissions reductions in all sectors.
- Enhance electricity retail market competition by removing barriers to entry for new players and facilitate market innovation to incentivise demand response, distributed renewables and increased electrification while ensuring market integrity and security.
- Prioritise deep renovation of public buildings and residences owned or rented by vulnerable consumers in order to reduce energy poverty, increase thermal comfort and support the achievement of decarbonisation goals.
- Develop a clear strategy for rapid electrification and the use of sustainable biofuels and hydrogen in the transport sector. Reduce the use of private cars and promote the use of railway to transport people between major cities and for international freight.
- Continue to work with Spain on increasing electricity interconnection capacity between Portugal and Spain and between the Iberian peninsula and the rest of Europe.
- Develop a dedicated strategy for energy research, development and demonstration that aligns policy design, implementation and funding with the achievement of Portugal’s 2030 energy sector targets and 2050 decarbonisation goals, including support for commercial deployment of new energy technologies, products and services.
The full report can be consulted [here].
IEA Report, June 2021 - The energy matrix: Investing in clean energy
The global energy and climate future increasingly depends on the ability of emerging and developing economies to transition to cleaner energy systems, requiring a radical shift in global efforts to mobilize and channel investment. Many of these countries do not have access to funds for a rapid transition to a healthy and prosperous energy future, and the damaging effects of the Covid-19 crisis are lasting in a developing world.
Annual investment in clean energy in emerging and developing economies needs to increase more than sevenfold to put the world on track to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, according to the IEA report - Financing Clean Energy Transitions in Emerging and Developing Economies. This report, prepared in collaboration with the World Bank and the World Economic Forum, finds that there is no shortage of capital, but many countries need strong policies, robust financial markets and coordinated international efforts to ensure that private investors take advantage of available opportunities and provides recommendations to unlock a massive increase in clean energy investment in the developing world.
Leaders of the G7, leaders of the world's largest market economies, have noted the IEA's roadmap to achieving global net zero by 2050 as necessary to sustain robust economic growth and ensuring a stable, affordable and universal energy supply. They called on all countries, particularly large economies, to work together to make this goal a reality.
Source: IEA