Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are poised to soar in 2021 as energy use mounts alongside global economic momentum, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report Tuesday.

The Paris-based energy watchdog estimated that emissions would spike by 1.5 billion metric tons/year. It would mark the second-biggest increase on record and more than reverse the decline in 2020 hastened by the Covid-19 pandemic. Globally, emissions dropped by almost 2 billion metric tons (mt) last year, the largest absolute decline in history, according to IEA. The record rise in emissions was set in 2010, when major economies bounced back from the global financial crisis.

Specifically, IEA in its Global Energy Review 2021 estimates that CO2 emissions will increase by nearly 5% this year to 33 billion...