Press Release | International Geothermal Association | 10 Oct 2019 | Bonn, Germany
The elections to the Board of Directors of the International Geothermal Association (IGA) for the 2020-2023 period have concluded and results are in. For an international organisation like the IGA, the participation of its membership, the national geothermal associations, industrial and individual members in elections is crucial to provide the basis for the representation of our diverse industry. We are therefore glad to have reached strong engagement by membership and participation in the elections.
We are particularly proud of the wide and diverse field of 50 candidates, who stood for elections to be represented on the board of IGA effective 1 May 2020. We congratulate all the elected individuals and are looking forward working with you in preparation of your term and beyond. While only 25 of those extremely qualified candidates were voted in the board, we hope to be able to build on the energy and dedication for geothermal of all the candidates that were not elected. We hope to be able to bind them into our work on helping push geothermal development worldwide.
Any industry lives of the diversity of its players and individuals, the representation in organisations like ours needs to reflect that. So, as part of wider changes to the IGA, its operations and governance, our emphasis going into the elections was to provide better diversity in the representation of the wider geothermal community. Setting a target of 50% female representation on the board, we achieved more than that. But diversity goes beyond gender, and we are also proud to have a wide diversity when it comes to geographic and industry segment representation. We see a strong representation from the Asia-Pacific and European region and are excited to have a good representation from Latin American and East Africa.
“Targeting an equal share of men and women, we now see a fundamental shift and a strong representation of a highly talented group of women. I am personally very proud seeing these results, which confirm my trust on the great power of community. I strongly hope that we are able to utilise this dynamic for the wider goal of IGA giving geothermal energy a more diverse and stronger voice and helping promote what we as an industry have to offer in the global energy and heat transition. I am convinced that this great new board is a fantastic group of strong individuals continuing the work of our current and previous boards.”
Alexander Richter, President of IGA
“Coming closer to the World Geothermal Congress 2020 to take place April 27 to May 1, 2020 in Reykjavik, Iceland, we see a stronger role of the IGA in the context of discussions on the global energy transition and the role it has to offer. With our strategic work on resource quantification, sustainability assessment, we are seeking better cooperation with industry, the research community and the academia to help our sector to live up to its potential. We see this new board in a good position to continue and strengthen that work.”
Dr. Marit Brommer, Executive Director of IGA
As part of organisational and legal changes to our by-laws, the new board has room to co-opt up to five additional board members to provide for better diversity in terms of gender, geography and competency. Details on the process are currently being worked on and will be shared in due course.
We hope to engage with all the candidates that stood for elections on how we can utilise the momentum on helping our work at IGA.
Please join us in congratulating the new board of IGA to start its work on 1 May 2020. We are looking very much forward to see the global geothermal energy community meet at the World Geothermal Congress 2020 in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The full results of the elections can be seen below:
Alexander Richter, President
Dr. Marit Brommer, Executive Director
Email: iga@lovegeothermal.org
IGA website: www.lovegeothermal.org
Website of the World Geothermal Congress 2020: www.wgc2020.com
Social Media handles: @lovegeothermal
