The world is locking itself into irreversible climate change, warns IEA

On Wednesday 9 November the International Energy Agency (IEA) published the 2011 edition of the World Energy Outlook. The IEA said that without a bold change of direction the world will be locked into an insecure, inefficient and high-carbon energy future. The IEA warned that investment decisions that are made now will lock the world in to high fossil fuel emissions for decades, and will cause governments to miss their carbon targets. The IEA said that avoiding $1 of investment in clean technology now will cost $4.30 in abatement by 2020. The IEA estimated that emissions over the next 25 years will amount to three-quarters of the emissions over the last 110 years, which would lead to a long-term average temperature rise of 3.5 degrees Centigrade. The Agency called on governments to introduce stronger measures to drive investment in efficient and low-carbon technologies. The report noted that renewables would increase its share in the world's energy mix from 13% to 18% by 2035, and that renewables subsidies would increase from $64bn in 2010 to $250bn by 2035, although this is still way below the $409bn subsidies provided to fossil fuels in 2010.
IEA