The International Energy Agency (IEA) - -  the energy adviser to 28 developed countries including Ireland - - said today at the climate change talks in Poland that the global economic slowdown must be viewed as an opportunity, not a distraction from efforts to mitigate climate change. Separately, at the talks, the World Bank said that climate change is an economic as well as an environmental issue, and countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union should invest more in weather forecasting to reduce its impact on their citizens. As climate variability increases in the coming decades, better weather forecasting will become even more critical to aid farmers seeking to plant crops at the right time, better protect people from losses due to natural disasters, and help pilots who need predictable weather patterns for safe flying, a new World Bank study finds.