Speaking at the 2026 Green Growth Summit in Brussels, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said the turmoil underscored the strategic importance of accelerating the global transition to renewable energy.
“Renewables turn the tables,” Stiell told ministers, business leaders and investors attending the summit. “Sunlight does not 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.”
He said the crisis had laid bare the geopolitical vulnerabilities of fossil‑fuel‑dependent economies and reinforced the case for clean energy systems that provide stability, security and economic opportunity. “Fossil fuel dependency is ripping away national security and sovereignty and replacing it with subservience and rising costs,” he said. “Renewables and resilience keep bills down and create far more jobs.”
Stiell warned that some governments were responding to the energy shock by doubling down on fossil fuels, a move he described as “completely delusional”. History, he said, shows that crises linked to fossil fuel dependency will “happen again and again”, leaving households and economies at the mercy of geopolitical instability.
–UN/ChannelAfrica–
