Global CO2 emissions set to increase by 5 pct in 2021: IEA

PARIS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Global energy-related CO2 emissions are on course to surge by 1.5 billion tonnes in 2021, reversing most of last year's decline caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report released by the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) Tuesday.

This would be the biggest annual rise in emissions since 2010, during the carbon-intensive recovery from the global financial crisis, said the IEA's Global Energy Review 2021, which estimated that CO2 emissions will increase by almost 5 percent this year to 33 billion tonnes.

"This is a dire warning that the economic recovery from the COVID crisis is currently anything but sustainable for our climate," said Executive Director of the IEA Fatih Birol. "Unless governments around the world move rapidly to start cutting emissions, we are likely to face an even worse situation in 2022."

The accelerating rollouts of COVID-19 vaccinations in many major economies and widespread fiscal responses to the economic crisis are boosting the outlook for economic growth and leading to a rebound in energy demand in 2021.

Global energy demand is set to increase by 4.6 percent in 2021, led by emerging markets and developing economies, pushing it to 0.5 percent above its 2019 level, said the IEA report.

Demand for all fossil fuels is on course to grow significantly in 2021, with both coal and gas set to rise above their 2019 levels. Oil is also rebounding strongly but is expected to stay below its 2019 peak, as the aviation sector remains under pressure.

Electricity generation from renewables is set to leap by more than 8 percent in 2021, accounting for more than half of the increase in overall electricity supply worldwide. The biggest contribution to that growth comes from solar and wind, projected to rise by 18 percent and 17 percent respectively from last year, both on track for their largest annual rise in history.

As a result, renewables are set to provide 30 percent of electricity generation worldwide in 2021, up from less than 27 percent in 2019 and their biggest share of the power mix since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

China is expected to account for almost half of the global increase in electricity generation from renewables, followed by the United States, the European Union and India, said the report.