"The intergovernmental organization, based in Paris, derives about a quarter of its budget from subscriptions costing almost $18,000 a year. Activists say the fees are an impediment to climate-related research by nonprofits."
"WASHINGTON—A growing number of activists and academics are calling on the International Energy Agency to make its data free and available to everyone, ahead of the agency’s biennial board meeting in Paris next month.
The IEA, which publishes a series of highly influential reports on global energy systems each year, provides a crucial data resource for researchers around the world who are focused on combating climate change. But much of the data in its reports is behind paywalls that can cost thousands of dollars to unlock: A full annual subscription costs almost $18,000 a year.
Experts say the 30 member countries that make up the IEA’s governing board—including the U.S., Germany and a number of the world’s wealthiest nations—can afford the fees, but for independent researchers or less wealthy countries, IEA paywalls are a major roadblock to climate-related research efforts.
“Climate change, and the low-carbon energy transition, are some of the most pressing challenges we face and most people stand to benefit from us making progress on them,” said Hannah Ritchie, head of research at Oxford University-based Our World in Data, a research center focused on the world’s largest problems. “If researchers, analysts and innovators can do their work more openly and get access to the data they need, they can accelerate this progress. The IEA paywalls are hindering some of our efforts on this.”"
Andrew Marquardt and Jeannie Kopstein report for Inside Climate News February 7, 2022.
