Global carbon emissions rise beyond pre-pandemic levels – Ember

Wind and solar growth has been insufficient in fully meeting post-pandemic increase in power demand, with many countries turning to coal

Global power sector CO₂ emissions in the first half of the year rose by 5pc compared with pre-pandemic levels, according to a recent report by thinktank Ember—throwing claims of a post-pandemic ‘green recovery’ into doubt. Electricity demand increased by 5pc in H1 2021 compared with H1 2019, requiring an additional 546TWh of power generation. For the first time, wind and solar generated 10.5pc of global electricity, up from 5pc in 2015. However, while wind generation rose by 26pc and solar by 46pc, these energy sources combined met only 57pc of the demand rise. Coal generation rose by 5.8pc, meeting the remaining 43pc, while gas generation stayed almost unchanged between 2019 and 2021.