MANILA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Energy experts, policymakers, financiers, and project developers from across Asia-Pacific Tuesday called for massive investments in clean energy amid spiraling prices of energy and the growing threat of climate change.

    More than 500 experts are meeting in the headquarters of the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) this week to scale up investments in clean energy solutions that enhance energy security and address global warming.

    "The challenges we face today, soaring fuel and commodity prices, threats from climate change, and growing problems of poor people having limited access to energy, all point to the need to take action," said Ursula Schafer-Preuss, vice president of the Asian Development Bank at the opening of the three-day Asia Clean Energy Forum.

    The international forum is taking place as energy prices, particularly oil and coal, hit record highs. Some analysts have argued that a "super spike" in prices may be just around the corner.

    "Given the cost of oil and its impact on the climate, there is no better time than now to take action," said Winston Bowman, Regional Environment Director at the U.S. Agency for International Development, a sponsor of the Asia Clean Energy Forum.

    "If action isn't taken now, it will be much more costly to do so in the future," he added.

    The region is estimated to need up to 6.4 trillion U.S. dollars in new energy infrastructure by 2030 and unless there is a move away from the dependence on oil and coal, countries will continue to be vulnerable to price hikes in these commodities and will further contribute to climate change, according to the ADB.

    The worldwide clean energy sector is already attracting significant investments, about 148 billion dollars in 2007, but much of that is being used in Europe and other developed regions, while relatively little is reaching Asia because of a lack of supportive government policies and legislation, the ADB said in a press release.

    Policymakers have a critical role to play in establishing the right regulatory, policy and institutional frameworks needed to attract investment at the scale required, it added.

    At the opening of the forum, Schafer-Preuss also said that the ADB has already achieved its annual target of 1 billion dollars in investments in clean energy for Asia and the Pacific, and expects to surpass it by 50 percent by the end of 2008.