London (Platts)--29Sep2008

Governments around the world need to take urgent action to develop
policies to increase the use of renewable energy if they want to meet their
pledged reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the International Energy Agency
said Monday.

Earlier this year G8 countries agreed to cut global emissions by at least
50% by 2050.

For this to happen, the IEA estimates that nearly half of the world's
electricity will need to come from renewable sources, the agency said in a new
study on renewable energy policy.

"This is a huge challenge and part of the entire energy revolution we
need to achieve. Meeting these very ambitious objectives will require
unprecedented political commitment and effective policy design and
implementation," the IEA said.

"Governments need to take urgent action," IEA head Nobuo Tanaka said in a
statement accompanying the report.

"We encourage them to develop carefully designed policy frameworks,
customized to support technologies at differing stages of maturity, and
eventually to apply appropriate incentives such as a carbon price for more
mature renewables," he said.

The IEA study included an analysis of renewable policies in 35 of the
world's biggest countries, and found there were still significant barriers
preventing a rapid expansion of the sector.

"Governments need to do more," Tanaka said. "Setting a carbon price is
not enough. To foster a smooth and efficient transition of renewables toward
mass market integration, renewable energy policies should be designed around a
set of fundamental principles, inserted into predictable, transparent and
stable policy frameworks and implemented in an integrated approach."

"Much more can and should be done at the global level--in OECD member
countries, large emerging economies and other countries--to address the urgent
need of transforming our unsustainable energy present into a clean and secure
energy future."