By Stephanie Kelly and Laura Sanicola
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Governments around the world must collaborate to achieve net-zero emissions targets by 2050, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, said on Wednesday, a day after the agency released a report that said investors should not fund new oil, gas and coal supply projects.
Governments such as the United States also must give an "unmistakable signal" to investors in order to expand clean energy in emerging economies, he said at the Columbia Global Energy Summit.
In its starkest warning yet to curb fossil fuels, IEA said on Tuesday that investors should not fund new oil, gas and coal supply projects if the world wants to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century.
Net-zero emissions are reached when the amount of greenhouse gas produced is no more than the amount removed from the atmosphere.
Birol addressed the report in the discussion on Wednesday, emphasizing that world economies must have an orderly transition of the global energy system. The 2050 net-zero goal means the sector and governments must transition to meet that timeline.
"If we did not have such a climate goal, then there is no problem," he said.