The global rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic is set to drive greenhouse gas emissions that stoke climate change to all-time highs, the Paris-based International Energy Agency says.

“We estimate that full and timely implementation of the economic recovery measures announced to date would result in CO2 emissions climbing to record levels in 2023, continuing to rise thereafter,” the agency said in a report on Tuesday.

Spending plans for clean energy allocated by governments around the world in the second quarter of this year add up to $US380 billion ($519 billion), making up just 2 per cent of their total stimulus funds in response to the pandemic, the IEA said.

🗣 “Governments must go even further by leading clean energy investment & deployment to much greater heights beyond the recovery period in order to shift the world onto a pathway to net-zero emissions” @fbirol on our new Sustainable Recovery Tracker ➡️ https://t.co/F4y6HJwsxC pic.twitter.com/WhwjH2fteU

— International Energy Agency (@IEA) July 20, 2021

The energy watchdog said the figure represented around a third of what it envisioned was needed in order to put the world on course to reach net zero emissions by mid-century.

“(Countries) must then go even further by leading clean energy investment and deployment to much greater heights beyond the recovery period in order to shift the world on to a pathway to net-zero emissions by 2050, which is narrow but still achievable – if we act now,” IEA chief Fatih Birol wrote.

We just launched @IEA’s new Sustainable Recovery Tracker to measure how governments’ responses to the Covid-19 crisis are affecting clean energy investment & CO2 emissions.

It shows that only 2% of fiscal support goes to clean energy transitions ➡️ https://t.co/8WzlGaDJu5 pic.twitter.com/fvVudGeDMb

— Fatih Birol (@fbirol) July 20, 2021

-AAP