Tougher policy measures and more focus on carbon sequestration are required to address the issue of climate change, an expert has claimed.

According to Dr Wallace Broecker, Newberry Professor in the department of earth and environmental sciences at Columbia University in the US, carbon capture and storage (CCS) offers a “stop-gap” solution to the world’s energy demand.

The esteemed scientist, who conducted pioneering research into the role played by the ocean in triggering climate change, suggested that global reliance upon fossil fuels will not change.

Dr Broecker said: “We will continue to depend on [fossil fuels], meaning CO2 emissions are bound to increase because renewable energies will not suffice to replace them, especially in poor countries.

“We need to encourage renewables all we can, but I don’t think it will be enough,” he added, citing the importance of CCS.

In April, the UK government announced plans to retrofit all of its coal-fired power stations with CCS technology, bringing it to the forefront of global efforts to decarbonise fossil fuels.

However, the Environmental Industries Commission (EIC) believes that future competitiveness in the UK depends on how quickly it can establish a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy.

It suggested that those nations which do will be in a position to share what is already a $3 trillion (£1.8 billion) marketplace and is rapidly rising by more than five percent a year.

The EIC will be co-hosting a conference on UK and EU climate change policy with the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform this month.

On June 24th, the EIC conference will take place in central London.