Why renewables now sit at the heart of global security

Three months out from London Climate Action Week (LCAW), the energy conversation feels closer to home than it has for years. London will once again act as a hub and convener for shaping climate conversations and cooperation. But this year, the backdrop is fundamentally different as the global energy system has been reminded of just how exposed it remains to single points of failure. 

This year’s theme, “operating climate action in a fragmented world and finding new ways of working together”, is timely. It cuts to the heart of how energy, economies and societies are being re‑evaluated in real time.

The past few weeks has been the largest disruption to oil flows ever recorded, according to analysts. Since the Iran-US-Israel war began, tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz fell from being the busiest in the world to almost none, removing 20% of global crude supplies, seeing Brent crude rise by roughly 50%, and European natural gas prices double their benchmark. But more than just a disruption to “vital arteries of the global economy”, the shock has revealed systemic issues, exposing the fragility of an energy model still routed through narrow corridors and volatile commodity markets.  

As the world grapples with disrupted supply chains, rising energy costs and geopolitical tension, domestic renewable energy is being considered in a new light. People at home, and in Parliament, are asking the same question: What would this conflict look like if our energy system hadn’t been built around a handful of chokepoints that can be threatened, manipulated or turned off?

For much of the past decade, renewables were framed mainly as a climate solution, championed by climate advocates and invested in by forward‑looking businesses, but often were dismissed by sceptics as optional and “fluffy” technologies, or too expensive to prioritise. That view is shifting. What was once characterised by some as a “nice‑to‑have” or exclusively environmental priority, now sits at the intersection of security, sovereignty and resilience 

This shift will soon be felt at an individual level too. With the UK government moving to make plug‑in solar panels available in shops within months, energy resilience is becoming something people can take part in directly, in a way that would have been unthinkable even a few years ago.

UN Secretary‑General António Guterres captured the shift: much of the world still depends on fossil fuels sourced from a few regions, where conflict causes economic repercussions felt everywhere. The difference today is that countries now have an “exit ramp” in home‑grown renewables. By allowing countries to produce power at home, wind and solar offer energy sources that are not only cheaper, but cannot be blocked or weaponised, reducing exposure to events beyond their control. In an increasingly unpredictable world, that reliability has real value. 

Domestic generation is no longer just about cutting emissions, but a means to gain strategic advantage. Seen this way, renewables are not a retreat from globalisation, but a means of operating more safely within it.

As Linda Kalcher, an adviser to European climate policymakers, notes, moments of disruption tend to clarify rather than derail priorities. While some governments may look to short‑term measures such as boosting gas storage, the broader policy debate is already turning back towards accelerating domestic energy build‑out in the form of building solar and wind power.

That said, it is important to remember what has come before. Bringing us optimists back down to earth, some analysts dismiss the shift to renewables is “just wishful thinking”, reminding us that similar hopes surfaced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, only for some European governments to fall back on “even dirtier coal”. 

It is also worth recognising that today’s economies are more diverse than in previous crises. In the UK, for example, renewables now account for more than half of electricity generation, but we so often get swept up in the narrative of total system exposure to fossil fuel dependency. The reality likely sits somewhere in between - a system more resilient than before, but still susceptible to the reverberations of global shocks.

In 2026, energy security is the energy transition. As we approach LCAW, we must move the conversation beyond ambition to delivery: improving grid connections, expanding energy storage, and creating investment frameworks that can hold up during geopolitical turmoil. The question is no longer whether renewable energy matters, but how recent events have fundamentally changed why it matters.