From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

“… Sunlight doesn’t depend on narrow and vulnerable shipping straits, wind blows without massive taxpayer-funded naval escorts …”

War-driven energy price spikes highlight value of renewables: UN climate chief

16 March 2026  Climate and Environment

The disruption of global energy supplies is being felt worldwide, the UN’s top climate change official warned on Monday, as conflict in the Middle East drives oil and gas prices sharply higher – echoing the market turmoil triggered by the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at the 2026 Green Growth Summit in Brussels, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said the volatility underscored the strategic value of renewable energy.

“Renewables turn the tables,” he said during a keynote address to the event, which brings together European climate and environment ministers alongside businesses, investors and other key stakeholders.

“Sunlight doesn’t depend on narrow and vulnerable shipping straits, wind blows without massive taxpayer-funded naval escorts [and] renewable energy allows countries to insulate themselves from global turmoil and to side-step might-is-right politics.”

Indeed, renewable energy also delivers on people’s top priorities across the continent: security, well-paid jobs, better health and relief from rising living costs, he added.

…

Pointing out that in 2025, renewables overtook coal as the world’s top electricity source, and over $2 trillion was invested in clean energy – double that of fossil fuels – he said “the opportunities are immense.”

…

“Europe can permanently seize the multi-trillion-euro goldmine of investment that’s just getting started by embracing green growth, drawing on your many strengths, [including] education, strong institutions, smart regulation, social justice and innovation and intellectual property, and by backing it up with plans and policies.”

…Read more: https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/03/1167135

Can anything better encapsulate how useless renewables are than these comments?

$2 trillion spent and it hasn’t even moved the needle of Europe’s dependence on oil imports.

If $2 trillion has no impact, what would another $4 trillion achieve? The answer should be obvious – absolutely nothing.

One day the world will run out of fossil fuel, in about 50 – 200 years from now, depending on who you ask. But we already know what the world will likely do next, if there has been no major breakthrough like nuclear fusion.

There is enough recoverable Thorium to power the planet with Thorium / U233 fission reactors for thousands of years. After that, solving the energy crisis is someone elses problem.