The major growth in coal came from developing economies, with China accounting for 46% of global coal demand in 2011.
But it's not just them.
Europe, the region that likes to think of itself as perhaps the greenest in the world, has also seen a return to coal in the last couple of years. While the US has turned to shale gas, Europeans have once again embraced the black stuff, as the cost of coal has plummeted.
However, it is not all bad news for the green sector. Renewables such as solar and wind have boomed in 2011 and 2012, perhaps driven by government spending.
They accounted for 19% of global electricity generation in 2011 which according to the report is "broadly on track to meet a 2C scenario by 2020" for a globally altered climate.
Electric vehicle sales have doubled (still a measly 110,000) while hybrid vehicles have finally broken the one million sales mark.
But turning this oil tanker (perhaps coal carrier is a better metaphor?) is not going to be easy.
And efforts will not have been helped by a vote in the European Parliament that rejected an attempt by the Commission to prop up the extremely ailing EU carbon market.