A new report shows the world must invest in renewable energy six times quicker than it is doing to prevent the world's temperature increase from rising more than two degrees.

If renewable adoption is increased by 30pc - with renewable and energy-efficient technologies in the mix - there would also be an additional benefit of 11 million new jobs created by 2050. This would totally mitigate the loss of fossil-fuel industry jobs, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which publishes a regular outlook report assessing the long-term potential of renewable energy.

The report also found that renewable technologies such as solar and wind must represent 66pc or more of total energy consumption by the same date in order to prevent the most significant effects of climate change.

A spokesperson for IRENA said that a combination of renewable energy technologies and energy-efficiency measures would help to meet 90pc of all CO2 emissions cuts needed to limit the world's temperature rise to just two degrees. He explained that these measures would also deliver a number of economic and social gains, helping to create sustainable job growth for the longer term, lifting millions of people out of their current energy poverty and increasing green energy security of supply.

New Technologies and a Government Challenge

IRENA has previously said that floating wind turbines are of particular interest for renewable technology and could help to reduce today's already competitive green energy prices by a further 50pc. The agency has also warned, however, that the government's current plans do not go far enough to meet realistic climate change goals. It wants to see the government also incentivise electric heat supply and transport to help further the renewables boost.