International agencies say we need decisive climate action

Several international agencies have warned that irreversible climate change is becoming an every more likely future if the de-carbonisation of our economies is not taken seriously, immediately, and if fossil fuelled energy production isn’t phased out quickly.

Here is a selection of recent studies and articles:

World Bank

Turn down the heat. Why a 4°C warmer world must be avoided.
News article | Report (pdf)

"The report says today’s climate could warm from the current global mean temperature of 0.8°C above pre-industrial levels, to as high as 4°C by 2100, even if countries fulfill current emissions-reduction pledges."

Nicholas Stern, ex-chief economist of the World Bank

Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change
News article (2012) | original report (2006)

Nicholas Stern, 2006: "Climate change is the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen."

Nicholas Stern, 2012: "Looking back, I underestimated the risks. The planet and the atmosphere seem to be absorbing less carbon than we expected, and emissions are rising pretty strongly. Some of the effects are coming through more quickly than we thought then."

International Energy Agency

World Energy Outlook (2012)
News article | Report

Fatih Birol, Chief Economist: "Energy markets can be thought of as suffering from appendicitis due to fossil fuel subsidies. They need to be removed for a healthy energy economy."

"Eliminating subsidies for coal, gas and oil [...] could provide half of the carbon savings needed to stop dangerous levels of climate change."

Tracking Clean Energy Progress 2013
News article | Report (pdf)

"Rapid and large-scale transition to a clean energy system requires action on an international scale; individual, isolated efforts will not bring about the required change. Governments need to give the private sector and financial community strong signals that they are committed to moving clean energy technologies into the mainstream." [Note that "governments" can be supported by public banks in these efforts.]

United Nations Environmental Programme

Emissions Gap 2012
News article | Report

"The report estimates that large emission reductions are possible from sectors such as power generation, transport and forestry, as well as boosting the energy efficiency of buildings, which could help bridge the [emission reduction] gap by 2020 [...]"

Achim Steiner, Executive Director: "Yet the sobering fact remains that a transition to a low-carbon, inclusive green economy is happening far too slowly and the opportunity for meeting the 44 Gt [greenhouse gas emissions] target is narrowing annually."

European Environment Agency

Climate change, impacts and vulnerability in Europe 2012
News article | Report

Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director: "Climate change is a reality around the world, and the extent and speed of change is becoming ever more evident."

Jeremy Grantham, co-founder of investment group GMO

Jeremy Grantham on how to feed the world and why he invests in oil (Interview, April 16, 2013)

... on investing in the most polluting fossil fuels:

[T]hose extreme, dangerous, carbon-intensive and polluting resources [coal and tarsands] run the very substantial risk of being stranded assets [...]"

Angus McCrone, Chief Editor, Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Memo to policy-makers: re-charge the development banks (VIP comment, May 3, 2012)

"In addition, the boards of the EIB and EBRD should reconsider their energy-lending remits, to maximise outlays that assist the low-carbon transition and minimise those to conventional energy. They could for instance decide to stop lending to coal altogether and lend only to gas if those projects directly reduce emissions by a large percentage."