The energy shock caused by the conflict in the Middle East is changing priorities. The rise in fuel prices and its effects on the world economy have placed security of supply at the center of the debate. Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), has described the situation as “the biggest energy security crisis the world has ever faced.”
For Francesco La Camera, director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the crisis also forces us to review what it means to be protected against a supply interruption. After the crises of the 1970s, the response was to accumulate oil and gas reserves. Today, the concentration of fossil fuels and their dependence on strategic maritime corridors leave many countries exposed to geopolitical tensions.
Renewables offer another logic, resources distributed between regions and production that can be managed by more actors. La Camera maintains that countries with a greater presence of these sources are resisting the crisis better. Energy security thus ceases to be measured only by reserves and begins to depend on diversification and control over own resources.
A crisis-driven transition
The fight against climate change is no longer the only driver of change. The World Energy Investment 2026 report from the International Energy Agency points out that fuel importers are increasingly looking for sources available within their borders, renewables, nuclear and, in some cases, coal.
The organization foresees a global energy investment of 3.4 trillion dollars in 2026. Some 2.2 trillion will be allocated to networks, storage, low-emission fuels, nuclear, renewables, efficiency and electrification. Faith Birol believes solar and wind will benefit first because of how quickly they can be installed. The World Bank adds that up to 70% of the increase in clean energy spending over the past five years has come from net importers of fossil fuels.
The change is already reflected in electricity generation. According to Ember’s Global Electricity Review 2026, renewables provided 33.8% of the world’s electricity in 2025, surpassing coal at 33.0% for the first time in a century. Clean energies also covered the entire growth in global electricity demand.
China illustrates both progress and its limits. According to the National Energy Administration, installed solar capacity reached 1,286 gigawatts at the end of July, compared to 1,285 GW for coal. However, installed power does not equal production, coal still generated 49.7% of its electricity in the first half of 2026. Even so, it was the first time that its share fell below 50%.
More electricity, more efficiency
For La Camera, the question is no longer the direction of the transition, but its speed and scale. “In the coming years, the competitiveness of economies will depend largely on their ability to offer “molecules” (green hydrogen) and “electrons” (electricity and storage) at a lower cost.
Renewables are already among the most competitive sources of electricity. Against the argument that wind and solar are intermittent, La Camera cites IRENA studies according to which, combined with storage and other technologies, they can form “firm renewable” systems capable of guaranteeing supply 24 hours a day, all year round.
The electrification of buildings, transportation and industry is another decisive piece. But demand is moving faster than expected and efficiency is improving too slowly. The International Energy Agency estimates that global electricity consumption will grow by more than 3.5% annually on average until the end of the decade. Efficiency improvements, by contrast, have averaged about 1.3% annually since 2019, up from about 2% between 2010 and 2019.
This mismatch could widen the gap between supply and demand by 2030. Tripling renewable capacity may not be enough to meet climate goals without also boosting efficiency and electrification. Hence the proposal “35 by 35” or what is the same, that electricity represents 35% of final energy consumption in 2035, a goal that occupies a prominent place in the debates at the COP31 that is currently being held in Turkey.
Three pending challenges
The director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Francesco La Camera, identifies three challenges in which progress is needed: infrastructure, regulation and talent. The new system needs interconnected and flexible networks, regulations that no longer favor fossil fuels, and professionals prepared for new jobs. Furthermore, in developing countries, high financing costs and infrastructure limitations are added. Therefore, it demands that multilateral financial institutions prioritize the modernization of networks.
Other organizations share that analysis. The urgency appears in the Electricity 2026 report of the International Energy Agency (IEA), at the end of 2025, at least 1,700 GW of advanced renewable projects and more than 600 GW of batteries were waiting for connection. To meet the expected demand, annual investment in networks should grow by around 50% until 2030.
From BloombergNEF, its head of network research, Peter Wall, warns that even with more investment, important barriers persist to connecting the new generation and demand on time. And economist Julián Cubero, from BBVA Research, clarifies the role of technology, digitalization, AI and storage improve efficiency and flexibility, but do not compensate for the structural lack of network capacity.