14 June 2012, 10:10 BST Getting ever louder in its calls for the
world to get serious about climate change, the International
Energy Agency (IEA) is also increasingly concrete about what
needs to be done. Global investments in renewable energy must
double by 2020 to $23.9 trillion to keep global temperatures
from rising beyond 2°C, says IEA in its new book, Energy
Technology Perspectives 2012. And they must grow to $140
trillion by 2050. That's $36 trillion more than currently
projected where controlling emissions is not a priority - the
equivalent of $130 per person each year. It sounds like an
enormous amount of money, but the plan more than pays for
itself. By 2025, reduced spending for fossil fuels would
outweigh the investment, and for every $1 invested, $3 would be
saved by 2050, adding up to at least $100 trillion in savings.
"The window of opportunity is closing rapidly on achieving the
2°C target. The investments made today will determine the energy
system that is in place in 2050; therefore, the lac