Julia Metz named as new director of Agora Industry

Berlin, 17 February 2025. Industry and climate expert Julia Metz is the new head of Agora Industry. In her role, she is responsible for the think tank's work on climate-neutral industry and leads a team working on the industrial sector and hydrogen in key countries around the world. Metz succeeds Frank Peter, who is taking up a new position within the Agora think tanks after three years at the helm of Agora Industry.

Julia Metz was previously Programme Director Climate and Industrial Policy at Agora Industry and Agora Energiewende, where she was responsible for addressing fundamental questions of industrial transformation and cross-cutting issues related to a successful transformation to climate neutrality. Before joining Agora, Metz worked on energy and climate policy at the Climate Neutrality Foundation, the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) and in the German Bundestag. As a political scientist and economist, she conducted research on European policy at the Social Science Research Centre Berlin (WZB) and subsequently completed her doctorate.

“Julia Metz has outstanding expertise in the field of industrial transformation and climate policy, as well as a strong network among research institutions, industry, civil society and political actors,” says Frauke Thies, Executive Director of Agora Think Tanks. To successfully implement the transformation, it is essential to have both scientifically sound analyses and close exchanges with societal actors. “With Julia Metz at the helm, Agora Industry is very well positioned for this phase of the transformation.”

“I’m delighted to take on responsibility for leading Agora Industry, where I will work with our highly qualified team to develop durable strategies and solutions for climate-neutral industry in Germany, Europe and internationally. Together with the Agora think tanks and partners from the international think tank network INETTT, Agora Industry unites various sectoral and regional perspectives. It’s my goal to integrate these perspectives in light of the current geopolitical challenges and thereby successfully advance the transformation of industry,” says Julia Metz. 

Frank Peter, who has led Agora Industry since October 2021, takes over responsibility for Agora's quantitative, cross-sectoral research work as Director of Foresight and Research Coordination.

“Our work at Agora Industry in recent years has shown that the industrial sector can reduce emissions that were previously considered ‘hard to abate’. Now the focus is on developing a suitable framework so that industry can contribute to achieving international climate targets and be competitive at the same time,” says Frank Peter. “I wish Julia Metz every success in her new role and now look forward to continue developing the work of the Agora think tanks in the area of cross-sector analyses.”