Q&A with Pål Rasmussen and Luis Bertrán Rafecas The IGU Secretariat is moving from Norway
years. Without their support all the changes
to Spain and the new Secretary General,
we have initiated, along with our day-to-day
Luis Bertrán Rafecas will take over from Pål
operations, would not have been possible.
Rasmussen on November 1. To mark the
At the time I moved into the Oslo offices as
changeover, the IGU Magazine asked Pål about
Deputy Secretary General in early 2014, there
the major developments during his tenure and
was a lot of focus on improving IGU’s advocacy
Luis about the challenges going forward.
efforts. Following wide-ranging discussions, especially with David Carroll and Mel Ydreos,
x Pål and Luis have been working closely to ensure the smooth transfer of the Secretariat from Oslo to Barcelona.
Pål, since taking over from Torstein as
we decided to raise the bar and to take a
Secretary General in December 2014 you
broader approach. It was decided to gather
have had an action-packed schedule. Could
several important strategic issues under the
you give us the highlights of the
umbrella of BFTF.
Secretariat’s work over the last two years?
◆ The Building for the Future project was
I would like to specially mention: (1) the
established and divided into three phases.
Building for the Future Project (BFTF); (2) the
There was discussion of a fourth phase,
increased engagement with international
which would have covered e-learning/
policymakers in arenas such as the G20, COP
education, but in the end we kept to three.
and IEA; and (3) the development of the
Phase I was based on a clear message from
external advocacy efforts of IGU.
our members to increase the focus on
But I want to start by thanking all the staff
external advocacy. We started off by revising
involved in the work of the Secretariat who
the Vision and Mission of IGU and
have really delivered their best over the last two
developing a sustainable means of financing gas advocacy work by introducing a new structure of membership fees together with a new category of Premium Associate Member. The eligibility for Associate membership was widened and a strategy for strategic partnerships developed. Then, in Phase II, we looked at the conference portfolio and saw the need to strengthen IGU’s involvement in the planning and execution of the events as they are a major source of future income. Knowledge transfer was a key element in Phase II, which was approved at the Executive Committee meeting in Durban in April 2016. We are now working on the future governance of IGU under Phase III.
148 Q & A w i t h P å l R a s m u s s e n a n d L u i s B e r t r á n R a f e c a s