World must spend trillions to cut emissions: IEA

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

TOKYO (AFP) — The world must spend about one percent of its total income every year to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the IEA said Friday, calling for an "energy technology revolution" to curb global warming.

Unless governments act now, carbon dioxide emissions will rise by 130 percent by the middle of the century and oil demand will grow 70 percent, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report published in Tokyo.

To halve carbon dioxide emissions, the world would need to spend an additional 45 trillion US dollars on clean energy technologies by 2050 -- or 1.1 percent of average annual gross domestic product over the period, it estimated.

"There should be no doubt that meeting the target of a 50 percent cut in emissions represents a...