International Energy Agency: downturn will have severe impact on climate

Citation

(2009), "International Energy Agency: downturn will have severe impact on climate", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 20 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2009.08320fab.004

International Energy Agency: downturn will have severe impact on climate

Article Type: News From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 20, Issue 6

The global economic crisis will have far-reaching and, depending on how governments respond, potentially severe impacts on climate change and energy security, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned in a report. It estimates investment in renewables could drop by as much as 38 per cent in 2009. The additional funding from economic recovery packages could only offset “a small proportion” of this, the IEA says.

About 5 per cent of recovery funds are directed at energy efficiency and renewables, the agency calculates. To put the world on a path to limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius, governments should be looking to quadruple this figure, it says. And this level of investment would have to be sustained for decades, it adds.

The economic crisis may lead to an increase in carbon emissions in the long-term because weak fossil fuel prices and the credit crunch are hindering investment in clean technologies, the IEA predicts. There is also a “very real risk” it will lessen the prospect of an ambitious climate agreement in Copenhagen, it says.