China and Southeast Asia need to boost investment in renewable energy by $1.6 trillion to slow growth in greenhouse gas emissions over the next 20 years, the World Bank said today.
The region already plans to invest $100 billion a year to boost energy efficiency and develop renewable energies and technologies.
But that won't be enough to keep carbon emissions, which many scientists say cause global warming, from doubling over the next 20 years, according to the bank.
China, the world's most populous country and biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, must shoulder 80 per cent of the extra $80 billion a year needed to stabilise carbon use by 2025 and lower emissions by 2030, the bank said.
"The window of opportunity is closing fast as delaying action would lock the region into long-lasting high-carbon infrastructure," the bank said in a report.
The World Bank hopes $25 billion of the annual additional investment will come from low-interest loans from developed countries and multinational agencies.
China last year became the world's biggest investor in clean energy though the amount remains below what the World Bank is calling for.
China's investment and financing for clean energy rose to $34.6 billion in 2009, out of $162 billion invested globally, according to the report by the non-profit Pew Charitable Trusts. US spending ranked second, at $18.6 billion.
