--- title: IEA Head Wants Fossil Fuel Industry To Set Climate Targets description: "They recognize the importance of climate change," Fatih Birol said. "But when you look at the numbers there is a major gap." canonical: https://time.com/6284159/iea-fatih-birol-oil-gas-emission-targets/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-06-01T19:39:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T15:58:10.177Z article:section: Climate og:title: Exclusive: IEA Head Wants The Fossil Fuel Industry To Set Climate Targets og:description: "Oil and gas companies need to make some commitments in order to be taken seriously," says Fatih Birol. og:url: https://time.com/6284159/iea-fatih-birol-oil-gas-emission-targets/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e583410e1589707/698a3d84b3fce3d4ef0ca84a/fatih-birol-oil-and-gas-climate.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Session held on Russia-Ukraine war in Belgium og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Exclusive: IEA Head Wants The Fossil Fuel Industry To Set Climate Targets twitter:description: "Oil and gas companies need to make some commitments in order to be taken seriously," says Fatih Birol. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e583410e1589707/698a3d84b3fce3d4ef0ca84a/fatih-birol-oil-and-gas-climate.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Exclusive: IEA Head Fatih Birol Wants The Fossil Fuel Industry To Set Climate Targets  by [Justin Worland / Paris](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland / Paris Senior Correspondent Jun 1, 2023 7:39 PM CUT  International Energy Agency's (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol speaks during a session regarding one year of Russia-Ukraine war, at European Parliament, in Brussels on March 9 International Energy Agency's (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol speaks during a session regarding one year of Russia-Ukraine war, at European Parliament, in Brussels on March 9Dursun Aydemir—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland / Paris](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland / Paris Senior Correspondent Jun 1, 2023 7:39 PM CUT (_To get this story in your inbox, subscribe to the TIME CO2 Leadership Report newsletter_ [_here_](https://www.time.com/co2-newsletter "undefined")_._) Fatih Birol has spent much of the last few years as head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) laying out a path for the world to decarbonize its energy use. The IEA’s recent [reports](https://time.com/6049584/climate-change-iea-report/ "undefined") have called for a dramatic scale up in financing for renewable energy and warned that the world cannot afford investment in new fossil fuel supplies. In a May 25 interview at his office in Paris, Birol told me he is “disappointed” in the energy industry’s [lackluster response](https://time.com/collection/earth-awards-2023/6273930/earth-awards-2023-antonio-gutteres-fossil-fuels/ "undefined") to climate change. “When they talk, they recognize the importance of climate change,” he said. “But when you look at the numbers there is a major gap.” To address that gap, Birol tells TIME that the IEA is spearheading a push to get the companies to commit to data-driven targets ahead of the upcoming U.N. climate conference known as COP28 to be held in Dubai this November. “Oil and gas companies need to make some commitments in order to be taken seriously,” he says. Birol is an economist and he explains his analysis of this situation with a simple look at the numbers. Last year, the companies made $4 trillion in [revenue](https://time.com/6254086/fossil-fuel-2022-revenue-vs-country-gdp/ "undefined"), an enormous increase from pre-COVID numbers. That money [could have been used](https://time.com/6175400/oil-company-profits/ "undefined") to power the energy transition, but [instead](https://time.com/6254378/bp-oil-profits-climate-energy-transition/ "undefined") companies largely channeled it into dividends, share buybacks, and debt repayment. To that end, Birol has identified two concrete goals that energy companies should take to align with the net zero ambition. First, oil and gas companies need to commit to cutting emissions from their operations and supply chains—so-called Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions—by 60% by 2030\. An [analysis](https://www.iea.org/reports/emissions-from-oil-and-gas-operations-in-net-zero-transitions "undefined") from the IEA found that nearly 15% of global emissions come from the business of getting oil and gas out of the ground and transporting it to consumers. Second, Birol says fossil fuel companies need to commit to ramping up their investment in clean energy technologies. Last year, oil and gas companies devoted about 5% of their spending to areas outside of their traditional fossil fuel supply business, according to an IEA [analysis](https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-investment-2022/overview-and-key-findings "undefined"). That low percentage not only means less capital is flowing into clean technologies but also that the companies aren’t fully utilizing their expertise in a way that could benefit the transition. “They have huge engineering experience, they know how to run major, complex projects,” says Birol. “If we can get them on board, they can really help us to reach our targets.” Birol says the IEA is currently pushing “very strongly” for oil and gas companies to make those commitments in time for COP28\. “There are people who say oil and gas companies have no seat on the table in the COP meeting,” he says. “I think we need to build a grand coalition of governments, energy industry, civil society, and investors who sincerely believe in the fight against climate change.” But Birol isn’t relying on the urgency of climate alone to make the case to energy companies. He says he points to investment trends to suggest to energy companies that if they move too slowly they risk being left behind. On the morning of our interview, the IEA released a [report](https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-investment-2023 "undefined") projecting that more than $1.7 trillion will be invested in clean energy technologies this year, a nearly 25% increase over the last two years. “If I have to give one advice to the companies or investors,” he told me, “they better give a close look at the clean energy investment trends.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6284159/iea-fatih-birol-oil-gas-emission-targets/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6284159/iea-fatih-birol-oil-gas-emission-targets/"},"headline":"Exclusive: IEA Head Fatih Birol Wants The Fossil Fuel Industry To Set Climate Targets","datePublished":"2023-06-01T19:39:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T15:58:10.177Z","description":"\"Oil and gas companies need to make some commitments in order to be taken seriously,\" says Fatih Birol.","url":"https://time.com/6284159/iea-fatih-birol-oil-gas-emission-targets/","keywords":["Leadership Report","climate change","healthscienceclimate","sponsorshipblock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e583410e1589707/698a3d84b3fce3d4ef0ca84a/fatih-birol-oil-and-gas-climate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland / Paris"}],"articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e583410e1589707/698a3d84b3fce3d4ef0ca84a/fatih-birol-oil-and-gas-climate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Session held on Russia-Ukraine war in Belgium","caption":"Fatih Birol speaks in Brussels","creditText":"Dursun Aydemir—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/co2-leadership-report/","name":"Leadership Report"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6284159/iea-fatih-birol-oil-gas-emission-targets/","name":"Exclusive: IEA Head Fatih Birol Wants The Fossil Fuel Industry To Set Climate Targets"}}]}] ```