--- title: Fatih Birol Is on the 2021 TIME100 List description: Find out why Fatih Birol is one of the 100 most influential people of 2021. canonical: https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095810/fatih-birol/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-09-15T11:19:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-07-21T07:22:13.514Z og:title: Fatih Birol: The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 og:description: Find out why Fatih Birol is on this year’s list og:url: https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095810/fatih-birol/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f6b027c226d406b/698a1cac86f68e7da16f04ab/fatih-birol-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Fatih Birol: The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Fatih Birol: The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 twitter:description: Find out why Fatih Birol is on this year’s list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f6b027c226d406b/698a1cac86f68e7da16f04ab/fatih-birol-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 15, 2021 # Fatih Birol by John Kerry  Fatih Birol Ole Berg-Rusten—NTB Scanpix/AFP/Getty Images Fatih Birol Ole Berg-Rusten—NTB Scanpix/AFP/Getty ImagesOle Berg-Rusten—NTB Scanpix/AFP/Getty Images In a world where facts are assaulted, Fatih Birol combines the best of high-tech data, optimistic know-how and old-school rhetorical finesse. A trusted counselor to world leaders, he’s an objective authority on what it will take to slash carbon emissions and save our planet. His data-driven approach is like Moneyball for the clean-energy revolution. Birol has transformed the International Energy Agency from a body mostly monitoring oil markets into a leading adviser to the world’s major economies across the full suite of energy technologies. Building on over 10 years of analysis, this year his IEA released its first [comprehensive road map](https://time.com/6049584/climate-change-iea-report/ "undefined") for reaching global net-zero emissions by 2050 and minimizing the risk of catastrophic climate impacts. Countries including India, China, Indonesia and Colombia have all asked him to chart road maps to speed climate action and reach net-zero emissions. When we get there, and if we get there in time, trust that Fatih Birol guided the course to turn words into reality. [_Kerry_](https://time.com/5933657/john-kerry-china-climate-change/ "undefined") _is the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095810/fatih-birol/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095810/fatih-birol/"},"headline":"Fatih Birol","datePublished":"2021-09-15T11:19:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:13.514Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095810/fatih-birol/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","T100 2021","T100 2021 Pioneers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f6b027c226d406b/698a1cac86f68e7da16f04ab/fatih-birol-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f6b027c226d406b/698a1cac86f68e7da16f04ab/fatih-birol-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"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":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095810/fatih-birol/","name":"Fatih Birol"}}]}] ```