Maria van der Hoeven, former minister of economic affairs of the Netherlands, begins term as executive director of International Energy Agency

Rachel Carter

Rachel Carter

PARIS , September 1, 2011 (press release) – Former Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs vows focus on excellence as IEA works to address challenges of energy security, economic growth and environmental sustainability

Ms. Maria van der Hoeven, former Minister of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands, took charge today as the new Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and vowed a focus on excellence as the agency strives to address the challenges of energy security and climate change in an era of unprecedented economic uncertainty.

"I am thoroughly convinced of the value of the IEA's world-class expertise in meeting today's energy challenges, and it is therefore vital that our expertise remain unrivalled, objective and focused on the right issues," said Ms. Van der Hoeven, who was elected in March by the IEA Governing Board to succeed Mr. Nobuo Tanaka of Japan.

Ms. Van der Hoeven credited Mr. Tanaka with helping to build the agency's profile. She said she would focus on further strengthening the IEA's expertise and reach, promoting the use of the agency's knowledge and experience to address energy issues impacting IEA Member countries, emerging economies and exporters of energy.

"This means bringing the organisation's expertise and well-founded views to the table at highest levels, in support of policymaking as well as to inform discussions with other organisations and institutions," she said.

Ms. Van der Hoeven served as Minister of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands from February 2007 to October 2010, during which time she demonstrated leadership on energy policy at the national, regional and global levels.

As minister, Ms. Van der Hoeven took the initiative in advancing several key aspects of her country's energy policy, including unbundling, infrastructure modernisation and extension, developing the Dutch gas hub policy, and accelerating the development and use of renewables. She played an active role in European energy policy development, with a special focus on issues such as market liberalisation and energy security. She promoted the strengthening of regional ties by helping to set up the Pentalateral Forum, which establishes cooperation on electricity between Germany, France and the Benelux countries and which is evolving into a model for other regions of Europe.

On the world stage, Ms. Van der Hoeven contributed to international dialogue on both energy security and sustainability. She participated actively in both the Jeddah and London summits on the future of oil prices, and in 2009 she chaired the IEA ministerial meeting. As the responsible minister of a gas-exporting country that is regarded as Europe's hub for trade in crude oil and oil products, she gained valuable insights on a broad range of energy-related issues and assembled an extensive international network and numerous ministerial contacts in both OECD and non-OECD countries.

Ms. Van der Hoeven is a fierce supporter of market principles, promoting transparency and establishing a level playing field. In administrative affairs, she managed to shorten bureaucratic procedures and cut through red tape to accelerate large-scale energy investments, including large-scale offshore wind power in the North Sea and the creation of the natural gas hub. It is her personal conviction that energy production and use should be made comprehensively more efficient and cleaner by improving energy efficiency, developing and using renewables, and producing and using energy otherwise generated in the cleanest possible ways, such as clean fossil fuels and carbon capture and storage.

Prior to becoming Minister of Economic Affairs, Ms. Van der Hoeven was Minister of Education, Culture and Science from 2002 to 2007. She was an elected member of the Netherlands House of Representatives of the States-General from 1991 to 2002. Until 1987 she was head of the Adult Commercial Vocational Training Centre in Maastricht, after which she served as head of the Limburg Technology Centre until 1991.

A native Dutch speaker, Ms. Van der Hoeven is fluent in English and speaks French and German.

To obtain a high-resolution photo of Ms. Van der Hoeven please contact ieapressoffice@iea.org .

About the IEA

The IEA is an autonomous organisation which works to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its 28 member countries and beyond. Founded in response to the 1973/4 oil crisis, the IEA's initial role was to help countries co-ordinate a collective response to major disruptions in oil supply through the release of emergency oil stocks to the markets. While this continues to be a key aspect of its work, the IEA has evolved and expanded. It is at the heart of global dialogue on energy, providing reliable and unbiased research, statistics, analysis and recommendations.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.

Share:

About Us

We deliver market news & information relevant to your business.

We monitor all your market drivers.

We aggregate, curate, filter and map your specific needs.

We deliver the right information to the right person at the right time.

Our Contacts

1990 S Bundy Dr. Suite #380,
Los Angeles, CA 90025

+1 (310) 553 0008

About Cookies On This Site

We collect data, including through use of cookies and similar technology ("cookies") that enchance the online experience. By clicking "I agree", you agree to our cookies, agree to bound by our Terms of Use, and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. For more information on our data practices and how to exercise your privacy rights, please see our Privacy Policy.