Energy sector CO2 emissions rebounded last year to an all-time high. The reason ? The global economic rebound and increased use of coal, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.
An increase of 6%
Energy, the leading sector producing greenhouse gases, saw its emissions increase by 6% in 2021 to reach 36.3 gigatonnes, their “highest level ever”, indicates the IEA in a press release. However, CO2 emissions from energy had fallen in an unprecedented way between 2020 and 2021 (-5.2%), under the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic. But at +6%, it’s an unprecedented annual rebound, against a backdrop of accelerated economic recovery.
Breaks 2019 record
This volume of emissions, which exceeds the previous record of 2019, was also largely fueled by weather conditions, as well as the boom in gas prices, which pushed many countries to turn to coal, despite a unprecedented growth in renewable capacities. Coal is responsible for 40% of this growth, with a historic level of 15.3 billion tonnes of CO2. Gas also exceeded the 2019 level, at 7.5 billion tonnes. Oil, on the other hand, is 10.7 billion tonnes below pre-pandemic levels, as transport and in particular aviation have not yet fully resumed.