Malcolm Turnbull selected as president of IHA

Australia’s former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has been appointed president designate of the International Hydropower Association.

He will take up the Presidency from 31 October 2023 at the opening session of the World Hydropower Congress in Bali.

On his appointment Mr Turnbull said: “The stakes have never been higher. The world is on a catastrophic path to a 2.7 degrees Celsius increase in global warming. This is far beyond the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit that was agreed by the international community as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Renewables are key to addressing this challenge. We do not need new technologies; we have the tools to do the job now. It is a matter of political will and choice.

Hydropower is the largest renewable and has the additional advantage of backing up solar and wind when the sun doesn’t shine and wind doesn’t blow. So I am delighted to be taking up this role.”

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Mr Turnbull replaces Roger Gill who has held the position since 2019. A long-standing Board member of IHA, Gill is a company director for Pacific Hydro, a renewable energy development company owned by State Power Investment Corporation of China.

Eddie Rich, CEO IHA said: “Malcolm Turnbull is one of only a few world leaders who can claim to have been there and done it when it comes to making brave decisions to build hydropower to ensure the long-term energy security of his country.

"It’s a sign of the essential and urgent role of sustainable hydropower in the energy transition that someone of his calibre and profile has stepped up to be our President. We are hugely grateful to Roger Gill for his extraordinary tenure as President during which the organisation has transformed. He is my mentor and my friend and I know that his commitment to the cause is not yet fully spent.”

Malcolm Turnbull has had international careers in law, business and the media before entering politics at the age of 50.

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As Prime Minister for Australia, he announced the construction of Snowy Hydro 2.0, the biggest pumped hydro scheme in the southern hemisphere. Since leaving politics, Turnbull has resumed his business career. He is a senior adviser to KKR and an investor in, and adviser to, many Australian technology businesses.

He is chair of the Green Hydrogen Organisation and was co-chair of the IHA-hosted International Forum on Pumped Storage Hydropower.