Thursday 6 December 2007

Fossil fuels here to stay: UN's de Boer

Australian Financial Review
Tuesday 4/12/2007 Page: 6

Scientists must find ways to use fossil fuels such as oil and coal without further harming the environment, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Yvo de Boer told delegates during the opening session of climate change treaty negotiations yesterday. Suggesting that fossil fuels would continue to be the drivers of growth, Mr de Boer recommended all major greenhouse-emitting nations urgently agree in a new, stronger climate pact based on recognition that it was not realistic to assume alternative sources of energy alone could address the threat of global climate change.

Of course energy efficiency, renewable energy and alternative fuels such as ethanol are a critical part of the answer to climate change, but we also have to recognise that countries will continue to use fossil fuels, so therefore we have to find a cleaner way to use them,' Mr de Boer said. He said most of the demand for coal over the next 20 years would come from the developing economies of China and India.

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