Carbon emissions from energy flattened in 2019 after two years of increases, even as the world economy expanded by 2.9%.

The stall in emissions, as reported by the International Energy Agency on Tuesday, was mainly due to rich countries using less coal for electricity, replacing it with natural gas, wind, solar, and nuclear power. Coal generation in advanced economies fell by nearly 15%.

U.S. emissions fell 2.9%, or by 140 million tons, continuing the trend of the United States leading the world in total emissions decline since 2000.

Emissions in the European Union declined 5%, while Japan’s emissions were 4.3% lower in 2019.

But emissions in the rest of the world grew by nearly 400 million tons, with 80% of that increase coming from developing countries in Asia due to strong demand for coal. Scientists from the United Nations say global emissions must steeply decline in the coming years to avoid the severe consequences of climate change.

“We now need to work hard to make sure that 2019 is remembered as a definitive peak in global emissions, not just another pause in growth,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director.