“The picture is not very promising,” said Dr. Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, speaking at CEU about the prospects for action on climate change. “Despite steps in the right direction, the door . . . is closing, and we can say goodbye to a sustainable energy future forever.”
Speaking Dec.2 to a full house of faculty, students, diplomats, and members of the NGO community, Birol warned that the current economic crisis could derail efforts to cap the global temperature increase at 2 degrees Celsius by 2035. The latter goal is key to maintaining a sustainable way of life, Birol said. The lecture was sponsored by CEU’s Department of Public Policy, and chaired by Andreas Goldthau, Head, Department of Public Policy, CEU.
Birol warned that recent data indicate the world is moving in the wrong direction on climate change. Not only is the economic crisis forcing countries to make cuts in clean energy subsidies and investment incentives, in 2010 global carbon dioxide emissions actually rebounded to a record high. And while global energy efficiency normally improves each year by about 1 percent, 2009 and 2010 saw declines. Also, high oil prices are putting an extra burden on the economies of oil-importing countries, making investment in renewable energy even more difficult.
Birol urged countries meeting in Durban, South Africa, about these very issues to come to a legally binding agreement to act. Promises were already made in Bali, Copenhagen, and Cancun to take steps to reach the 2-degree goal by 2035, Birol said. Instead, the world is on track for a 6-degree increase in global average temperature, which would have catastrophic effects.
“If we do not have a major new wave of clean energy investments as of 2017, then . . . the door for 2 degrees Celsius will be closed forever,” Birol said. “For you, for your children, for all of us. We need a legally binding agreement so that investors will go in that direction. We should design the markets to get an incentive to go for renewable energies.”
(Photo by Daniel Vegel)
Watch the full lecture.