The World Energy Council (WEC)

The World Energy Council (WEC) was founded in 1923 and is an organisation accredited by the UN. The WEC, with its head office in London, unites 93 member states represented by National Committees (including Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan from the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as Turkey and Iran), as well as more than 3000 governmental and private institutions, academic communities and non-governmental organisations.
The WEC contributes to international energy dialogue through exchange of information on global, regional and national energy strategies, organising seminars, conferences and other events in this field, through research and other means.
The purpose of WEC is to conduct research into promoting sustainable energy supply for the common good of all mankind, short- and medium-term power supply, organise seminars, conferences and other events for the environmental protection and facilitation of energy demand and supply and develop cooperation with the institutions operating in the energy sector.
The headquarters of the organisation is located in London and is headed by the WEC Board of Directors, Officers Council and the Secretary, reporting to the elected chairman.
The main functions of the organisation are carried out by the Standing Committee, where there are elected members from different countries of the world. The Executive Assembly holds a meeting once a year to review and determine the strategic directions of the organisation.
The above-mentioned activities of the WEC are approved by the World Energy Congress, which is held every three years.
At present, the WEC has Member Committees that reflect different directions. States can be represented in one of these Member Committees through their representatives in accordance with their interests.
In 2008-2009, negotiations were held to establish Azerbaijan's National Committee as a member of the WEC. It was recommended to establish the National Committee of Azerbaijan. However, the direct membership has not taken place yet because of the membership fee and a number of other reasons.
A request submitted to the Ministry of Energy for Azerbaijan's membership within the Eurasian Regional Committee to the WEC was discussed with the relevant bodies operating in the field of energy. A decision was made for only direct membership to the organisation, not within any committee.
On April 8, 2019, Energy Minister, Parviz Shahbazov, met with the Regional Development Vice President, Oleg Budargin. At the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the World Energy Congress, held every three years, to discuss the development of cooperation with the World Energy Council, changes in the energy sector on a global scale with the application of technologies and new challenges.