International Energy Agency (IEA) Tuesday urged ministries with energy responsibilities to step up now to mitigate climate change and realize huge potential of energy efficiency.
"All parts of governments with energy responsibilities must rapidly engage in designing effective policies," said Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the IEA Tuesday at the ongoing UN climate change conference in Bali, a resort island of Indonesia.
"On this 10th anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol agreement, we don't feel it is the time to celebrate," he said. "CO2 emissions are already some 20 percent higher today than in 1997 and are set to increase even further and faster," he said, referring to the IEA World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2007China and India Insights.
Absent new policies, energy-related carbon emissions will increase by almost 60 percent, reaching 42 billion tons in 2030, according to IEA. Energy production and uses are a big part of the problem.
"We don't have any time to lose, decisions need to be taken now and implementation has to begin immediately. The cost of inaction will be high otherwise," he warned.
The WEO showed that by implementing policies under discussed today, CO2 emissions from OECD countries could begin declining by 2015, global emissions would stabilize by 2025 -- with energy efficiency delivering the bulk of avoided emissions.
"All parts of governments have a stake in energy. It is not just about the people gathered here in Bali to come to grips with the climate change challenge. To realize the tremendous potential for improvements across the board, energy efficiency needs a well-designed and sustained policy push," said Tanaka.
"This will pave the way for a least-cost strategy to reduce energy-related emission in the long run," he said.
The Dec. 3-14 UN climate change conference is aimed at drawing up a roadmap for negotiations on a new climate deal before the current phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
Source: Xinhua
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