King of Sweden leads high-level delegation visit to IEA for discussion on energy markets and technologies with CEO – News
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden today led a high-level delegation of officials, academics and business leaders on a visit to the IEA’s headquarters in Paris where they discussed the emerging global energy crisis and the importance of clean energy technology with the IEA’s CEO Fatih Birol and other leaders from the agency.
The king’s visit was part of Royal Technology Mission organized by the Swedish Sovereign and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. This year’s visits to France and Germany are on the theme of energy transition and digitalisation, with a focus on research and development of new technology.
The 40-member delegation that visited the IEA was led jointly by the King and the Academy’s President Marcus Wallenberg. This included the Academy’s chairman Tuula Teeri, France’s ambassador Hakan Åkesson, Vattenfall’s CEO Anna Borg, ABB Sweden’s CEO Dennis Helfridsson, Northvolt’s CEO Peter Carlsson, Polestar’s CEO Dennis Nobelius and Robert Andrén, Director General of the Swedish Energy Agency. The delegation also included the rectors of Linnaeus University and Umeå University, as well as the rector of Chalmers University of Technology.
After initial comments by Wallenberg, Dr Birol gave a speech on global energy markets, the transition to clean energy and the consequences for the economy, geopolitics and technology, which was followed by an open discussion. Sébastien Treyer, CEO of the Paris-based policy research institute IDDRI, then gave a presentation on French industrial policy, and Alain Bécoulet, chief engineer at the ITER project, spoke on nuclear fusion. After the larger discussion, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Mr. Wallenberg and Dr. Birol had a short meeting where Dr. Birol thanked the king for being awarded the Swedish Polar Star Order in 2013.
Sweden has been a member of the IEA since the agency was founded in 1974. The Swedish government’s latest involvement in important IEA activities includes the chairmanship of the IEA’s ministerial meeting in 2017.