It's official ...

The Tennessee Valley Authority's coal-burning Allen Fossil Plant is shown in Memphis. Trillions of dollars pumped into the global economy during the pandemic have done little to alter the trajectory that has the planet on a path toward blowing through targets to cap temperature increases. | Adrian Sainz/AP Photo

It's official, we blew it but we already know that regarding global warming and what it means to the world. BRT has accurately tracked this sad state of affairs for years, something most distressing as we could have turned this catastrophic situation around in the 80's but didn't and now, the whirlwind awaits.

Governments in rich countries pledged last year to spend trillions of dollars to rescue their economies from the trough of the pandemic — and to channel that gusher of cash in ways that would aid the fight against climate change.

The climate change strategy largely failed

More than 18 months later, mounting evidence shows that the spending did little to alter the trajectory that has the planet on a path toward blowing through global emissions targets. In fact, much of the stimulus spending was directed toward a “brown” recovery that pumped money into polluting industries and energy sources like coal, oil and natural gas. Nations unleashed their spending in a way that was open to all sectors, helping their incumbent industries rather than funding the promised transformation to a clean economy.

The failure to deliver on pledges made just last year presents a grim backdrop as nearly 200 countries prepare to gather in November in Glasgow, Scotland, for the latest round of global talks to rein in greenhouse gases and cope with problems already arising from climate change. That meeting comes while much of the world faces a global energy shortage as it emerges from the pandemic that has sent prices soaring, even prompting the climate-focused White House to ask oil executives how they might tamp down fuel costs.

“The world missed an opportunity to have a green recovery,” said Alice Hill, who ran climate resilience efforts in former President Barack Obama’s National Security Council. “We hoped it would. But it didn’t.”

Jonathan Kemper Unspalsh