France honors IEA chief Birol with 'Legion d'Honneur'

International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol has been awarded the Legion d'Honneur, France's highest state award, for his contributions to the fight against climate change.

Birol told Anadolu Agency (AA) that he was proud to receive the honor, which France has bestowed upon outstanding individuals from across the world since the Napoleon Bonaparte era.

Underlining that the agency is working to achieve the targets set in the Paris Agreement, which was signed in 2015 and has already been ratified by over 190 countries, Birol said, "The Paris Agreement is the most important agreement made after World War II. The purpose of this agreement is to prevent the climate crisis."

"Last year, we drew up a roadmap for concrete steps to be taken in the global energy sector and a roadmap for these steps to achieve targets of the agreement," he added.

"In addition to this analysis, we have done these studies on how to keep energy prices at a reasonable level and how energy security can be ensured while trying to reach the targets of the Paris Agreement. While fulfilling the commitments of the agreement, we looked at the issue from the perspective of the developing countries," said Birol, adding that he was very pleased that this work would lead him to a state medal.

Birol also released a statement on Twitter, writing: "Great honour to be named Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur. I would like to thank French President Emmanuel Macron for this distinction, which I share with my hard-working IEA colleagues. I will continue to do my utmost to make the Paris Agreement's global energy & climate goals a reality."

Birol in September was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people by Time magazine.