Earlier this month, I wrote about a study that found the effects of recession to increase life expectancy in many nations of the developed world. Now, a global summary being prepared by the International Energy Agency (IEA) points to another positive side effect of the economic downturn: a significant fall in carbon emissions.

A massive decline in carbon emissions – three percent in one year -- marks the biggest dip of its kind in over three decades. What the IEA points out is that economic output is a direct contributor to carbon pollution and that the recession has deferred a number of investments in polluting technologies.

This comes as an important piece of news in the months leading up to the Copenhagen Climate Conference – the IEA’s chief economist cites the information as proof that it will be far easier for the world to achieve its necessary carbon emissions reductions, paving the way for easier negotiations come December. The recession, the IEA claims, will create a way for investments to be redirected into the clean energy sector.

"I think the author of the report notes that Copenhagen is actually a key opportunity to lock in a different direction, for those economies to taken advantage of the opportunities, grow economies and also cut pollution,” said John Connor, the executive director of the Climate Institute.