Nairobi, Nov 14: The world's economies have no
alternative to boosting energy efficiency and lowering carbon
emissions to tackle global warming, as clean energy lies
decades away as a mainstream source, the head of the
International Energy Agency (IEA) said here on Tuesday.
Claude Mandil, Executive Director of the Paris-based
agency, issued what he called "a message of urgency" on the
eve of a three-day meeting in Nairobi of the world's
environment ministers, tasked with charting the next steps in
the fight against climate change.
"With current policies, our energy future is insecure and
environmentally unsustainable," Mandil told reporters.
"We can't wait for a decade to make sure technology will
solve the problem," he warned. "We are not on a sustainable
track."
Mandil noted that emissions of carbon dioxide (co2), the
principal greenhouse gas, had risen by 1.2 billion tonnes
between 2003 and 2004, with coal accounting for 60 per cent of
the higher-than-expected increase.
The rise is mainly due to fast-growing developing
countries like china, which are burning more and more coal to
feed their voracious economies.
Fossil fuels have such a grip on the world's energy
market that cleaner, renewable technologies such as wind, solar
and tidal power will remain minority sources of power for
decades to come, added Mandil.
According to the IAE's forecast for 2030, oil will remain
the no 1 energy source, followed by coal and then gas. These
fossil fuels will still account for 85 per cent of needs.
Bureau Report
