The world is headed for a "dire future" where high energy prices drag on economic growth and global average temperatures rise by more than 3.5 Celsius, unless there are significant innovations to lower the cost of clean energy and carbon capture technology, said the International Energy Agency Wednesday.

Speaking at the conclusion of a two-day meeting with international energy ministers and business leaders in Paris, senior officials from the agency painted a gloomy picture of the world's current trajectory. It said growth in energy demand will be powered largely by coal and the only hope of restraining the rise in global temperatures to safe levels is to create cheaper technologies to capture the carbon dioxide it produces.

The meeting, which was attended for the first time by ministers from a large number of emerging economies, was a clear acknowledgement of how economic realities conflict with the goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

"Twenty percent of the world's population does not have access to reliable energy," said Martin Ferguson, Australia's Minister of Resources and Energy who was chairing the IEA meeting. These developing countries, "are going to continue to grow their economy and hence their demand for energy."

This means that, "coal will continue to be the world's fastest growing energy source for some time," with its consumption rising by two-thirds under the current trajectory, he said.

"It's not for us to deny them, but to invent clean technology at the lowest possible cost," and share it with them, he said. Investment in carbon capture and storage and renewable energy is important, he said.
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