Lex Delles attended the ministerial meeting of the International Energy Agency

From 13 to 14 February 2024, the Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles, attended the ministerial meeting of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris. The event, entitled "The IEA to 2050: Challenges and opportunities for transforming the energy sector to combat climate change", was organised as part of the International Energy Agency's 50th anniversary celebrations.

The current context has confirmed the importance of the IEA, which remains a pillar of global energy security, and in particular of the security of oil supply. However, the IEA must now focus on the climate issue to help Member States achieve climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest.

Minister Lex Delles commented: "The global energy landscape has undergone profound changes since the creation of the International Energy Agency in 1974. Although geopolitical tensions in the Middle East remind us of the importance of oil, our economies are now showing other vulnerabilities linked to the significant weight of other energy carriers such as gas and electricity. The climate crisis is becoming more urgent every day, and the complete decarbonisation of our energy systems is a moral, economic and social imperative. I therefore call on the IEA to pursue its transformation in order to provide convincing answers to this dual challenge.

Bilateral meetings with ministers from Austria, Belgium, Spain, Ireland and Portugal

On the sidelines of the IEA meeting, the Minister held bilateral meetings with his counterparts Leonore Gewessler, Austria's Minister of the Environment, Climate, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, Tinne van der Straeten, Belgium's Minister of Energy, Teresa Ribera, Spain's Minister of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Eamon Ryan, Ireland's Minister of the Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport, and Ana Fontoura Gouveia, Portugal's Secretary of State for Energy and Climate.

During these discussions, Minister Lex Delles referred, among other things, to Luxembourg's ambitious targets for the development of renewable energies in the country, as well as the need to pursue energy development cooperation with its international partners. He also discussed with his counterparts the need for a European framework capable of accelerating the deployment of renewable energies: simplifying the granting of permits, developing networks, improving flexibility and storage, promoting European industrial clusters in strategic technologies.

Press release by the Ministry of the Economy

Member of the Government

DELLES Lex