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Autumn conference - speakers' CVs

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Dr Fatih Birol

Executive Director
International Energy Agency, Paris

Dr. Fatih Birol (@fbirol) has served as Executive Director of the International Energy Agency since 2015 and has led the IEA in its first comprehensive modernisation programme since its creation. These efforts focused on “opening the doors” of the IEA to major emerging economies; making the IEA the global hub for clean energy transitions; and broadening the IEA’s energy security mandate beyond oil to also cover electricity, natural gas, renewables and the critical minerals needed in many of today's clean energy technologies. Dr. Birol has recently been named in the TIME100, TIME's annual list of the world's most influential people, and received the prestigious GLOBSEC European Award for his work to support Europe deal with the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Jonas Gahr Støre

Prime Minister of Norway

Jonas Gahr Støre was born on 25 August 1960. He is married to Marit Slagsvold and they have three children. Mr Støre underwent naval officer training at the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy in Bergen in 1979–1981. He then studied for a degree in political science, specialising in history and social economics, at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris in France from 1981 to 1985.

In 1989, Mr Støre was employed as Special Adviser at the Office of the Prime Minister, and in 1995, he was appointed Director General of its Department of International Affairs. From 1998 to 2000, he served as Chief of Staff under Gro Harlem Brundtland at the World Health Organization.

Jonas Gahr Støre was Minister of Foreign Affairs in Jens Stoltenberg’s second government from 2005 to 2012, and then Minister of Health and Care Services until the change of government in 2013. Before that, he was State Secretary and Chief of Staff at the Office of the Prime Minister in 2000–2001. He has also held a number of other senior positions in the civil service and humanitarian organisations, including serving as Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross from 2003 to 2005.

Mr Støre became Leader of the Labour Party in 2014 and has been a member of the Storting for Oslo since 2009. He has served on the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, and the Enlarged Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence.

Jonas Gahr Støre became Prime Minister on 14 October 2021.

Ine Eriksen Søreide

Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence

Eriksen Søreide represents The Conservative Party (Høyre), and is elected to parliament from the constituency of Oslo. Her governmental and parliamentary experience includes:

  • 2021-2025 Chair, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence
  • 2017-2021 Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • 2013-2017 Government minister, Ministry of Defence
  • 2009-2013 Chair, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, and Chair, Enlarged Foreign Affairs Committee
  • 2009-2013 Head of the Delegation for Relations with the European Parliament, and Head of the European Consultative Committee
  • 2005-2009 Chair, Standing Committee on Education, Research and Church Affairs
  • 2001-2005 Member, Standing Committee on Education, Research and Church Affairs

Eriksen Søreide holds a Graduate degree in Law (Cand. jur.) from The University of Tromsø (2007).

Terje Aasland

Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy

Terje Aasland was appointed Minister of Petroleum and Energy for the Labour Party in Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre’s government on 7th March 2022.

Terje Aasland was born on 15th February 1965 and grew up in Skien, Norway.

He has been elected to the Parliament for the Labour Party from Telemark county since 2005 where he has been member and leader of the parliament's Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment and the parliament’s Standing Committee on Business and Industry.

Aasland is a certified powerline worker (1986) and worked in several power companies in the Telemark region before being elected to the Norwegian parliament in 2005.

His political background include positions as a city council member in Skien for the Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party in Telemark and central board member of the Labour Party since 2011.

Anders Opedal

President and Chief Executive Officer, Equinor

When taking on the position as President and CEO in August 2020, Opedal stated that Equinor will be a leading company in the energy transition.

Driven by the company’s purpose to turn natural resources into energy for people and progress for society, Anders Opedal presented ambitions for Equinor to reach net zero by 2050. Optimising oil and gas, accelerating renewables and building low carbon value chains are the pillars of the strategy.

While limiting climate change remains pivotal, during the last year security of supply has emerged as a top priority for the energy sector, and a stark reminder of the need to secure a responsible energy transition. Equinor plays a key role as the largest reliable supplier of piped gas and shipped crude to Europe, while building solutions for a low carbon future.

Opedal joined Equinor in 1997, and has held senior leadership positions since 2007, including heading up Equinor’s operations in Brazil.