Covid-19 is expected to cause global energy emissions to fall a record eight per cent this year due to an unprecedented drop in demand for coal, oil and gas, the International Energy Agency has said.

The IEA's Global Energy Review was based on an analysis of electricity demand over more than 100 days, during which much of the world has entered lockdown in a bid to control the pandemic.

According to an AFP report, it predicted that global energy demand would fall six per cent in 2020 — seven times more than during the 2008 financial crisis and the biggest year-on-year drop since World War II.