The recession is ‘a window of opportunity to curb climate change and build a low-carbon future’, says the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The IEA reckons global greenhouse gas emissions will fall by three percent this year – more than expected – and that if governments continue to invest in clean technology, global temperature rises can be kept under the G8 goal of two degrees Celsius and emissions in 2020 will be five percent below previous estimates thanks to the recession.
The IEA also says that emerging countries would be able to increase their greenhouse gas emissions provided that developed countries in the OECD and the EU, cut their emissions by 17 percent in the next decade and by half by 2030.
Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN climate convention (UNFCCC), added: “The cost of addressing climate change is manageable. The cost of not doing so is unaffordable.”
