Executive director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, shown here at COP26, included free data access as part of the IEA 3.0 blueprint. Photo Credit: DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images
Environment FranceMajor Organization Will Offer Its Data for Free, to Help Fight Climate Crisis
In the wake of its annual meeting in Paris, France, the International Energy Agency (IEA) plans to make its data available for free, thus giving governments, organizations, and scientists alike access to its reliable and valued information in these environmental-challenged times.
“We […] would like to start making IEA data freely available in the interest of increasing data transparency and supporting good decision-making,” says its executive director Fatih Birol.
The IEA, an intergovernmental organization within the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, has made around $6 million each year from selling its data and analysis – more than one-fifth of its overall budget – and now wants to make that data freely available instead. The IEA produces the high-quality data researchers and policymakers need to create effective and efficient energy decisions. The shift toward free data is also fueled by the low-income countries’ fewer funds available to gain access to such valuable data.