Fatih Birol had big dreams of becoming a footballer or a filmmaker when he was younger. Instead, he became a surprising champion of the battle to kick the world’s addiction to fossil fuels as the executive director of the global energy watchdog. Birol, 65, heads the International Energy Agency, a Paris-based organisation that was founded in 1974 in the wake of the oil crisis to ensure the security of the world’s supplies of crude. Created by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the IEA advises 31 wealthy democracies ranging from the United States to Mexico, Japan and European nations. Its mission has evolved in more recent years. Today, Birol goes around the globe to press nations to accelerate their development of renewable energy and wean themselves off oil, gas and coal — with IEA data to back his case. “I’m a very direct man, I believe in numbers,” Birol told AFP in an interview at the IEA’s headquarters near the Eiffel Tower. He cited a 1970s French music hit, “Paroles paroles”, meaning “words words”, to press his point. “There is a lot of ‘paroles’. I believe in numbers. I believe data always win,” Birol said. Last week, Birol made headlines again by stating that the world “may be witnessing the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era” as he gave a preview of next month’s annual IEA energy outlook report. Demand for oil, gas and coal will peak by the end of 2030 thanks to the “spectacular” growth of clean energy technologies and electric cars, Birol said. “Some people say climate change is not real, some people say we shouldn’t move so fast,” he told AFP. “There are different views but the rigour of our analysis is not questioned,” said the Turkish energy expert, who has worked at the IEA for two decades and became its executive director in 2015.