The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Monday called on "all governments to enact policies that promote the rapid deployment of energy-efficiency technologies" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and buy time to secure a much-needed global climate agreement.

"As international climate negotiators enter their second week of talks at COP 18 in Doha, the need to rapidly transition to a more secure, sustainable global energy system is more urgent than ever," said Maria van der Hoeven, IEA Executive Director, in a statement on the 18th Conference of Parties (COP 18) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The IEA analysis shows that achieving the internationally agreed climate goal of limiting warming to 2 Celsius degrees is becoming more difficult and more expensive with every passing year.

"In fact, announced policies could lead to an increase of 3.5 degrees C, that could trigger widespread melting of the permafrost in Arctic regions with unpredictable results," the IEA warned.

In Hoeven's view, "carbon emissions must be dramatically reduced and the energy sector must play a key role in this," adding that concerted action are needed as "our energy security could be at risk."

The energy agency strongly urged governments to establish policies encouraging the rapid deployment of energy-efficiency technologies so as to reduce the greenhouse gas emission.

"Strategies to unlock and reduce emissions by retiring high-carbon-emitting facilities must be implemented cost-effectively and equitably," the IEA chief stressed.

"All countries must be ready to respond to the climate threat against their energy supply-and-demand infrastructure without giving up on mitigation efforts," the head of IEA underlined.

The latest UN climate change conference opened last Monday in Doha, Qatar, on major issues relating to global anti-warming efforts, including details of the Kyoto Protocol's second commitment period.

The first half of the Doha climate talks ended Saturday without achieving any major progress on the future of the Kyoto Protocol, which is the world's only legally binding climate treaty.

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