Carbon (CO2) emissions will increase by nearly five percent this year (1.5 billion tonnes more than in 2020). This will be the second-largest increase in history, the IEA said in a report.

This is a “dire omen” of impending threats to the climate and the environment from a rapid economic recovery, experts say. About 80 percent of the emission reductions that occurred in 2020 will be offset. In that time they decreased by 1.2 percent, or by 400 million tons to the level of 2019.

The main factor of the growth of harmful emissions will be the demand for coal. The IEA predicts it will increase 4.5 percent this year, approaching its 2014 peak. Analysts see this as a big risk. If governments don’t start cutting emissions, the world will face a worsening situation in 2022, they note. Global energy demand is expected to grow by 4.6 percent in 2021, but oil demand will remain below the 2019 peak.