Hand checked (by highly experienced native-speaking energy policy analyst) translation of the above letter:
The IEA was founded in 1974 in response to the first oil crisis with the aim of ensuring a disruption-free oil supply. Since then, the IEA has steadily evolved and become a central forum for international exchange of experience and policy advice on virtually all energy policy areas. Regular IEA country reviews with energy policy recommendations, as well as the annual World Energy Outlook (WEO) as the comprehensive international energy policy reference document with a current forecast horizon up to 2050, are particularly influential IEA publications that are highly regarded worldwide in the formulation of national energy policies. This year, the IEA also published a report on “Net-Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector,” which aims to set the global energy sector on a path to greenhouse gas neutrality.
Against this backdrop, the IEA is committed to improving and expanding data access for all, and has therefore introduced a new policy in recent years to make more and more data and analysis available free of charge.
These data include country and sector data and projections. This year, the IEA also made all of its reports and analyses, including the Net Zero 2050 roadmap and associated projections and the WEO, available free of charge.
The fee-based data offering — along with membership dues — is a key component of the operating budget that enables the IEA to fulfill its essential mandates.
Most of the revenue comes from private energy companies, financial institutions, and consulting firms. The IEA provides free access to its data and analysis to the press and offers either free access or deep discounts to nonprofit organizations, researchers, and academics.
The German government considers this to be an appropriate approach to accommodate the interests of all stakeholders.
An analysis, by @robbie.morrison, of the pratical legal and ethical questions raised in the above response can be found here: