BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will have to spend more than 1 trillion euros ($1.2 trillion) to meet even the lower end of the European Union’s 2050 target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, according to a draft of a study commissioned by the BDI German industry group.

Global investment in low-carbon energy reached USD 850 billion in 2016, with USD 297 billion of that flowing to renewable energy technologies and USD 231 billion to energy efficiency. Much of this investment has been underpinned by government policies and regulation targeted at supporting the shift to a low-carbon energy sector. Yet investment in the deployment of another critical climate technology – carbon capture and storage (CCS)1 – is falling well behind, with only around USD 1.2 billion invested in 2016.

Speaking at the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) CCS Forum at the Port of Rotterdam, Global CCS Institute CEO, Brad Page, said CCS is the solution to a raft of climate, economic and social problems.

Potent, climate-warming gases are being emitted into the atmosphere but are not being recorded in official inventories, a BBC investigation has found.

The Japanese government is moving ahead with its plans to build up to 45 new coal fired power stations.

The power plants will utilise high energy, low emissions (HELE) technology that use high-quality black coal.

Malcolm Turnbull has opened the possibility of using clean-energy subsidies to build new-generation, coal-fired power stations as he branded Labor's heavy focus on renewables "mindless", and a recipe for more expensive, less reliable electricity.

The global economic outlook may look hazy for 2017, but there are still lots of opportunity for Canadian exporters to clean up in China, according to those who watch the Chinese market.