FROM: Daesung Group

Younghoon David Kim, Chairman of Daesung Group inaugurated as Chair of the World Energy Council

- The first Korean elected to head the world’s largest independent network of global energy leaders
- A new leadership model is expected to lead the grand transition of the energy sector

Daesung Group Chairman Younghoon David Kim has been inaugurated as Chair of the World Energy Council (WEC), an international energy leaders’ organization, commencing a three-year term. Kim is the first Korean and the second Asian to lead the Council as Chair. He served for 6 years as Vice Chair for Asia-Pacific and South Asia from 2005, and in 2013, he was elected as Co-chair.

Jean-Marie Dauger, a former Executive Vice-Chair at Engie – a France-based global energy player, will serve as Co-chair for the next 3 years. Kim’s predecessor, Marie-Jose Nadeau, was appointed as an honorary chair of the Council. The inaugural ceremony was held on 13th October at the 23rd Istanbul World Energy Congress.

Established in 1923, the Council has been at the forefront of the energy debate for nearly a century, guiding thinking and driving action around the world to achieve sustainable and affordable energy for all. It is the UN-accredited energy body and principal impartial network, representing more than 3,000 organizations – public and private – in 92 countries.

The World Energy Council holds a triennial global event, the ‘World Energy Congress’, as well as its ‘World Energy Leaders’ Summits’ one to two times per year. With international events and regional gatherings, the Council offers opportunities for leaders to discuss regional and global energy issues and actively seek solutions for upcoming challenges. The Council informs global, national and regional energy strategies by publishing authoritative studies and working through its extensive member network to facilitate the dialogue that creates energy policy. Independent and inclusive, the WEC’s work covers all nations and the complete energy spectrum – from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

“We are seeing a steady paradigm shift from a carbon-based economy powered by the combustion of fossil fuels to one based on new sources of energy and new modes of power generation,” Kim said in his inaugural speech.  “Now, what this industry sorely needs are visionaries who have the whole picture in their sights.  We need to seek out and to support the future Michael Faradays toiling in the labs or workshops from Nairobi to New York.”

Under the theme “Embracing New Frontiers,” the 23rd World Energy Congress took place in Istanbul between 9 and 13 October. It featured 250 top level speakers including heads of states - President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin and President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as leaders of global energy giants such as Bob Dudley, CEO of BP and Amin Nasser, the CEO of Saudi Aramco. During the four-day program, sessions focused on not only the current challenges the sector faces, but also the future and how the energy industry may equip itself to respond. A consistent theme was how to balance the energy trilemma – energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability. WEC also released its ‘World Energy Scenarios to 2060’ which features three scenarios that describe very different visions of what our future may hold.

                            Younghoon David Kim, the newly elected Chair of the World Energy Council

                      WEC Chair Younghoon David Kim welcomes Heads of State and guests at the 23rd

                      Istanbul World Energy Congress

                          WEC Chair Younghoon David Kim poses with speakers the Presidential Special  

                          Address at the 23rd Istanbul World Energy Congress

From left to right: Mustafa Akıncı (President, Government of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus),Nicolás Maduro (President, Government of Venezuela),Recep Tayyip Erdo?an (President, Government of Turkey),Vladimir Putin (President, Government of Russia),Ilham Aliyev (President, Government of Azerbaijan),Binali Yıldırım (Prime Minister, Government of Turkey),Khalid Al-Falih (Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia),Younghoon David Kim (Chair; Chairman & CEO, World Energy Council; Daesung Group),Marie-Jose Nadeau (Chair, World Energy Council),Christoph Frei (Secretary General, World Energy Council),Natig Aliyev (Azerbaijani Minister of Energy),Mohammad Barkindo (Secretary General, OPEC)

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