Fatih Birol

As head of the organisation that advises countries on energy policy, Fatih Birol has a blunt message to governments ahead of a crucial climate summit: He wants "real global action", not just words.

Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), has been named one of the most influential 100 persons of 2021 by Time, a political magazine based in New York City, United States.

Birol, 63, who has been the executive director of the agency since 2015, is the only Turkish person that made it to Time's annual influencer list this year.

Turkey has discovered 135 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the Black Sea, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on June 4.

Turkey has ramped up exploration for oil and gas off its coasts in recent years.

The increasing exploration and drilling efforts for new wells after Turkey's Fatih drillship discovered 405 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas in the Black Sea is about to bear fruits with further gas volumes.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will announce the recent developments in the field, which is expected to be about a new gas discovery.

The window of opportunity for reaching net zero emissions by mid-century is narrowing unless the world radically changes the way energy is produced, used and transported, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on May 18.

When it comes to renewable energy, we should not only think of sun and wind but also geothermal and hydropower, said Fatih Birol, President of the International Energy Agency (IEA) on May 12.

Climate-changing CO2 emissions are set to surge by the second-biggest amount in history this year as the global economy recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, the IEA warned on April 20, days before a major climate summit.

The International Energy Agency (IEA), which has compiled the new data, says ensuring that 2019 marks a definitive peak in global CO2 emissions will be "extremely challenging".

The IEA says the COVID crisis in 2020 triggered the largest annual drop in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions since the Second World War.

Global energy-related emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide remained steady last year, with declines in the advanced economies balancing out a rise in the rest of the world, latest data has shown.

The International Energy Agency said emissions of the main man-made greenhouse gas stayed at 33 gigatons in 2019, even as the world economy grew by 2.9 percent.

French Energy company Schneider Electric's Cluster President for Turkey and Central Asia Countries, Bora Tuncer, presented the company's "Positive Energy Award" to Fatih Birol in a ceremony in Istanbul on Dec 25. "Sustainable energy is the future and the technology will be decisive for that," Bora said during the event.