![[Photo: Simon Stiell at the 2026 Green Growth Summit, © Michael Chia]](https://sustainabilityonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/55156266128_79cd8256de_k.jpg)
The growing fossil fuel cost crisis has led to what UN Climate Change executive secretary Simon Stiell has described as an “immense irony” – that those who’ve “fought to keep the world hooked on fossil fuels are inadvertently supercharging the global renewables boom”.
Stiell was commenting at the opening of the COP31-IEA High-Level Energy Transition Dialogue in Paris this past week.
‘Spread like a pandemic’
As he noted, the economic impact associated with the war in the Middle East has “spread like a pandemic” across the world, in the form of rising prices and squeezed budgets.
Estimates from last year indicate that clean energy investment is now double that of fossil fuel investment, marking a notable shift in capital allocation; a transition that is likely to be accelerated by the current conflict.
“Renewables offer safer, cheaper, cleaner energy that can’t be held captive by narrow shipping straits, or global conflicts,” he said. “That’s why so many governments are pushing renewables plans into overdrive: to restore national security, economic stability, competitiveness, policy autonomy and basic sovereignty.”
Stiell noted that countries that are rich in renewables, such as Spain and Pakistan, have been protected from the worst impacts of the crisis, while other countries, including France, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Germany and the United Kingdom are pushing forward with the renewable energy transition and the switch to electrification.
“This is real momentum,” he said. “We must harness it to accelerate a truly global shift.”
Structural challenges
Stiell also highlighted structural challenges that could affect the pace of transition – one is the continued linkage between electricity prices and fossil fuel markets, while another is the risk of long-term investment in fossil fuel infrastructure during periods of short-term supply pressure. Access to finance, particularly for developing countries, is another concern.
However, the direction of travel is positive, Stiell added. “Coalitions of the willing are already forging ahead. Just this week, governments and civil society met in Santa Marta on fossil fuels.
“In key sectors right across the Action Agenda, COP31 in Türkiye will provide a global stage to pick up the pace. We must seize this moment. We have no time to lose.” Read more here.
[Photo: Simon Stiell at the 2026 Green Growth Summit, © Michael Chia]
