The world is failing to invest in energy on the scale needed to escape catastrophic climate change and avoid sharp increases in fossil fuel prices, the International Energy Agency has warned.
In a report just weeks before the key COP26 climate-change summit, the agency said investment in green energy like solar and wind is lagging what’s needed to keep the planet from warming up significantly. At the same time, spending on fossil fuels is lower than needed if current demand growth for oil, natural gas and coal continues.
"There is a looming risk of more turbulence for global energy markets,” Fatih Birol, the head of the agency, said in a statement Wednesday. "We are not investing enough to meet ... future energy needs.”