Global coal usage rises to new high in 2022, energy agency says

Coal use across the world is set to reach a new record this year amid persistently high demand for the heavily polluting fossil fuel, the International Energy Agency said Friday.

The Paris-based agency said in a new report that while coal use grew by only 1.2% in 2022, the increase pushed it to an all-time high of more than 8 billion metric tons, beating the previous record set in 2013.

"The world's coal consumption will remain at similar levels in the following years in the absence of stronger efforts to accelerate the transition to clean energy," the agency said, noting that "robust demand" in emerging Asian economies would offset declining use in mature markets.