After a historic decline last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, CO2 emissions from the energy sector have already rebounded sharply, warns the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Tuesday.
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After reaching a low point in April, global emissions rebounded strongly and rose above their level of 2019 in December,
” underlines the IEA.
Emissions from the energy sector were thus 2% - or 60 million tonnes - last December above their level in December 2019.
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The rebound in CO2 emissions around the world at the end of last year is a serious warning that we have not done enough to accelerate the transition to clean energy across the world,
" the director warned. IEA Executive, Fatih Birol.
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If the economic rebound expected this year is confirmed - and in the absence of major political change among the largest economies on the planet - then global emissions will probably increase in 2021
", he stressed.
Energy emissions overall fell 5.8% last year, or almost 2 billion tonnes of CO2, the largest drop in human history, according to the latest figures from the 'IEA contained in a special report.
The IEA had previously mentioned an even steeper drop, of around 7%.
Most of the decline was caused by reduced use of oil for road transport and aviation.
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With the resumption of travel and economic activities, oil consumption and its associated emissions are on the rise,
" says the IEA.
The overall figure for 2020 also masks a strong disparity between countries: China's emissions increased by 0.8% in 2020 with a rapid recovery in activity, while they fell by 10% in the United States. .
