New Delhi, 19th July 2019: “Electrification of the energy world, our societies and our economies, will shape the future,” said H.E. Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency, while delivering the keynote address at the flagship conference of CEEW ‘Energy Horizons’ in New Delhi. Dr Birol also launched the CEEW Centre for Energy Finance (CEF) along with H.E. Mr Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gases, and Minister of Steel.

Dr Birol spoke about the global energy system and highlighted IEA’s institutional ties with India.

Highlights from his speech:

• Providing access to LPG and heading the target, providing LPG across India by 2020 is a major achievement. It is not only an energy issue, it is an economic issue and a social issue.
• There is a growing disconnect between what many governments say, about climate change and CO2 emissions around the world, and what the scientists tell and what the global emissions trends are. According to our numbers last year, we saw that CO2 emissions reached a record high the year that the IPCC asked for a major decline in emissions.

• Electricity demand grows strongly as the world uses more and more electricity and the digitalisation becomes a major driver, and, therefore, the electrification of the energy world, our societies, our economies, will shape the future.
• Solar energy is becoming cheaper than traditional fuels, which is an excellent news for all of us and everybody going for solar energy. It is not mainly because of environmental reasons because it does make perfect economic sense.
• The biggest energy investment growth (90 US Billion) happened in India. It is a very important proof on the trust of the investors in the Indian economy and Indian political stability.

Energy Horizons was envisioned as a global platform for thought and action leadership on the energy transition in emerging economies, with a focus on India. The conference comprised of several high-level discussions, masterclasses and solution factory sessions to cover a range of issues, including power systems of the future, financing and business model innovations, and next-generation technologies. Over 500 delegates and more than 50 key speakers participated in the conference.