Johannesburg (South Africa), Feb 18 (IANS): High energy price volatility has replaced climate framework as the top critical uncertainty driving the world energy agenda, the World Energy Council (WEC) said here Tuesday

According to the 2014 World Energy Issues Monitor, the global climate framework uncertainty, while still a key issue, is now perceived by energy leaders to have less impact than during the previous three years of the study.

"The fact that both climate framework and CCUS (carbon capture, utilisation and storage technology) are perceived to be issues of less impact is bad news not only in terms of emissions mitigation, but also for the development of robust and resilient energy infrastructure," said Christoph Frei, WEC secretary general.

The report also said energy leaders are increasingly concerned about the sector's ability to access the capital markets for funds towards energy infrastructure, when set against a continued recessionary backdrop.

The 2014 World Energy Issues Monitor is a six-month survey of over 800 energy leaders including ministers, chief executives and the heads of the WEC's national members committees covering 84 countries.

The report looks at the global energy agenda and analyses the trends and outlook in six world regions plus 24 countries, including Indonesia and India from Asia and Nigeria and South Africa from the African continent.

WEC said the African views, in contrast with the global view, emphasise that climate framework continues to remain a critical issue, as was brought out by African ministers at the just-concluded Delhi Sustainable Development Summit organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

“Our African survey finds that, in contrast with the global findings, climate framework has become an even more critical issue," said Bonang Mohale, WEC vice-chair Africa.

"Africa is dramatically vulnerable to climate change, and Africans are becoming more aware that climate change is an urgent and real issue rather than something that only countries with large emissions should worry about,” he added.