23 June 2009: Speaking at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum taking place in New York, US, from 23-24 June 2009, Nobuo Tanaka, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director, underscored the key role that renewable energy sources can play with respect to both energy security and climate change, but noted that both challenges are being overshadowed by the current economic crisis.

He stressed that measures to mitigate climate change often enhance energy security and called for emission reductions both in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and non-OECD countries. Tanaka also underlined that the current crisis is an opportunity to place a Clean Energy New Deal at the heart of stimulus packages everywhere. He added that governments must provide positive signals to investors by combining short-term recovery measures with a long-term policy perspective. [The Presentation]