Building for the Future

x  Phase II of the BFTF

project was given its mandate at the IGU Council meeting in Paris last June. Pål Rasmussen, who heads the project, is seen here presenting the ongoing work at the meeting.

The Building for the Future (BFTF) project continues to evolve. Phase I has been implemented with the revised IGU vision and mission, new membership categories and scaled membership fees.

The revised vision and mission made gas advocacy an integral part of the organization and positioned IGU as the “Global Voice of Gas” that seeks to improve the quality of life by advancing gas as a key contributor to a sustainable energy future. The new membership category and new membership fees will give financial strength to IGU to bring out its advocacy activities and develop these further.

According to the changes, the fee of a Charter member now depends on the country’s gas production and consumption, or whether it is a G20 country or not. According to the decision made by the Council at its meeting in

Paris in June last year, half of the increase was to be implemented in 2016. The full increase will apply in 2017. The scaled fee structure for 2016 is €6,000, €9,000, or €12,000 according to the criteria. For Associate members the fee in 2016 will be €12,000 for Premium Associate members, while for Standard Associate members it is €6,000.

It is important for IGU that these raised fees will bring something back to its membership. Gas advocacy has top priority and we recognize that it is even more important in the difficult environment that our industry now experiences.

The BFTF project Phase II was given its mandate by the Council in Paris, June 2015. The aim is to strengthen the IGU events portfolio. With the global conference environment getting increasingly competitive, we need to ensure the future success of the IGU-owned events. Greater involvement from IGU in the events will give the union better opportunities to influence and to ensure that the IGU vision and mission is reflected in the conference.

Our experience shows that presently events are handled as individual events with varying models and involvement from the union. The BFTF project sees a need to strengthen the brands by developing formal guidelines and policies to ensure continuity and competence transfer between the conferences.

The project group’s proposal for Phase II will be presented to the Executive Committee in its meeting in Durban, South Africa, on April 5, 2016.

Following Phase II, BFTF Phase III will be initiated which will cover the overall governance of IGU.