The world promised to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. Instead, it doubled them.

The sharp rise in fossil fuel subsidies is just one example of why activists say climate treaties are so often meaningless.

Mock headstones are pictured at Glasgow Necropolis to symbolize the failure of the COP26 process. Source: Paul Ellis / AFP via Getty Images.

In November 2021, 197 countries signed the Glasgow Climate Pact, a last-ditch attempt to land the world on a pathway to safe levels of global warming. 

The pact included a historic promise to stop pouring billions ea…