Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the energy sector will reach historic levels in 2021 due to the global economic recovery and increased coal use, the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicated Tuesday.

In a statement that is cited by some news portals, the IEA states that energy, the first greenhouse gas producing sector, increased CO2 emissions by 6% in 2021, to 36.3 gigatonnes.

According to the IEA the volume of emissions recorded in 2021 surpassed the previous record of 2019 and was due mainly, to the global economic recovery and rising gas prices, which led many countries to turn to coal despite unprecedented growth in the use of renewable energy.

The IEA reports that coal is the source of 40% of emissions growth in the power sector in 2021, with a historic level of 15.3 billion tons of CO2.

Gas also exceeded 2019 emissions levels by 7.5 billion tons. In contrast, oil was 2021 below 2019's 10.7 billion tons of CO2 in 2021, as transportation, particularly aviation, has not yet fully recovered from the effects of the covid-19 pandemic.

Because of the covid-19 pandemic, CO2 emissions in the energy sector decreased by an unprecedented 5.2% in 2020.