Beyond the grids package: a modernised and resilient energy system

Laura Cozzi was appointed the International Energy Agency’s Director of Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks in 2023. She leads and co-ordinates the IEA’s work on energy sustainability, encompassing energy technology policy and climate change. She is also the Agency’s Chief Energy Modeller and in this capacity co-leads the World Energy Outlook, the IEA’s flagship publication series. Ms Cozzi joined the IEA in 1999 as a junior analyst in the World Energy Outlook team. She has co-led many editions of the Outlook and led multiple special reports. Prior to joining the IEA, Ms Cozzi worked for the Italian energy company ENI S.p.A. She holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Polytechnic Milan and a Master’s degree in Energy and Environmental Economics from Eni Corporate University. Ms Cozzi was awarded an Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Cavaliere dell’ordine al merito della repubblica italiana) in 2025 and she was elected as a member of the National Academy of Technologies of France in 2024. She has also received honorary doctorates from Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology and from the Polytechnic University of Milan.

Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani was director of policy at the European Foundation Centre (EFC). He was the England director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK and fourth largest in the world. Dharmendra has held senior positions in the public and voluntary sectors and advisor to numerous ministerial policy initiatives across the UK.

Mechthild Wörsdörfer is Deputy Director-General at the European Commission’s DG Energy, where she is in charge of the coordination of the just and green energy transition. This includes steering the work on REPowerEU, accelerating the deployment of renewables and energy efficiency measures and ensuring the EU’s security of supply. Wörsdörfer is also responsible for the relations with the Energy Community, and steers the bilateral relations with Ukraine, Moldova, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Prior to this, Wörsdörfer was the director responsible for sustainability, technology and outlooks at the International Energy Agency (IEA); and held various roles at DG Energy, including director in charge of renewables, research and innovation, energy efficiency; and director for energy policy, international relations, legal aspects and economic analysis. Previously, she was head of Unit on the 2030 Energy and Climate Framework and served in the Cabinet of Erkki Liikanen, former European commissioner for Enterprise Policy and Information Society.