In a new study launched Wednesday by the International Energy
Agency (IEA), weeks ahead of the Durban Climate Change talks,
scientists warn that if the current trend to build high-carbon
generating infrastructures continues, the world's carbon budget
will be swallowed up by 2017, leaving the planet more vulnerable
than ever to the effects of irreversible climate change.
According to the IEA's World Energy Outlook, today's energy
choices are likely to commit the world to much higher emissions
for the next few decades. The current industrial infrastructure
is already producing 80% of the world's "carbon budget". The
report estimates that global primary energy demand rebounded by
a remarkable 5% in 2010, pushing CO2 emissions to a record 30.6
gigatonnes (Gt) in 2010. Subsidies that encourage wasteful
consumption of fossil fuels jumped to over $400bn (£250.7bn).
The IEA warns of a "lock in" effect; whereby high-carbon
infrastructures built today contribute to the old stock of
emissions in the atmosphere, thus inc