Global emissions were unchanged last year, the first time that's happened amid economic growth in four decades, according to the International Energy Agency.

Carbon-dioxide emissions, which scientists say are responsible for climate change, were stable at 32.3 billion metric tonnes, even as the global economy advanced 3 per cent, the Paris-based agency said Friday in a statement on its website, citing preliminary estimates.

Climate Advocacy Association supporters pledge to divest from companies that engage in the prospecting, extraction, transport, sale and burning of fossil fuels.

China, the world's biggest emitter, generated more of its electricity from renewable sources including hydropower, solar and wind and less from coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, it said.

The preliminary data suggests efforts to slow climate change may be more effective than expected, the IEA said. United Nations envoys are holding a series of meetings through the end of this year to try to seal a global deal limiting greenhouse gases in the period after 2020 in a bid to prevent emissions from rising to a level scientists say will lead to irreversible climate change.