The Hormuz Crisis Shows Us Why the Energy Transition Can’t Wait
The disruption around the Strait of Hormuz — a corridor carrying roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day — has been called the greatest threat to global energy security in history. The crisis, according to global experts, is worse than the 1970s oil shocks and the 2022 Ukraine gas disruption combined and the response so far reflects the scale of the problem. Oil prices surged over 60% in March, prompting the IEA to authorize its largest-ever release of emergency reserves at 400 million barrels. But as Dr. Faith Birol himself acknowledged, reserves buy time. They are not a cure.
Previous oil shocks left countries with few options. Today, clean energy is viable, affordable and already operating at scale. Ember's research shows that scaling solar, wind, electric vehicles and heat pumps could allow fossil fuel importers to cut their import bills by 70%. Solar panel prices have halved since 2022 and battery costs have fallen by 36%. Global EV sales have doubled and the global EV fleet already avoids oil consumption equivalent to 70% of Iran's exports. Moreover, solar growth in 2025 alone could displace gas-fired electricity equal to all LNG exported through the Strait of Hormuz that year. It is also worth mentioning that experts expect this crisis to accelerate renewables, calling them a "homegrown domestic energy source" no conflict can block.
The climate case reinforces the urgency. The WMO's latest State of Climate report confirms the last eleven years were the hottest on record. Earth's energy imbalance is also at its highest level since records began. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres put it plainly: in this age of geopolitical conflicts, the addiction to fossil fuels is destabilizing the climate, the global economy and global security alike. Renewables, he said, deliver climate, energy and national security all at once.
That momentum, however, has yet to reach the people who need it most. Three-quarters of the world's population live in countries that import fossil fuels, spending USD 1.7 trillion in 2024 alone. Meanwhile, 666 million people still lack access to electricity and 2.1 billion cook with polluting fuels. Every price shock hits these communities hardest. Clean energy is not only the solution to volatility; it is also the most practical path to energy access that does not recreate the same exposure to price shocks and supply disruptions.
This is where Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL)'s work matters most. Our Universal Energy Facility has grown from USD 8.5 million at launch to USD 67.3 million, deploying mini-grids and standalone solar across Sub-Saharan Africa. Together with the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, we are advancing Mission 300 to connect 300 million people in Africa to electricity by 2030. Since July 2023, these efforts have already reached 44 million people. Meanwhile at COP30, SEforALL took on the coordination of three Plans to Accelerate Solutions through 2030 on electricity access, clean cooking and energy efficiency.
As our CEO Damilola Ogunbiyi recently wrote in TIME, climate ambition and energy access must move forward together. And the clean energy transition is how we do both at once. Clean energy solutions reduce exposure to chokepoints, keep spending within domestic economies and reach communities that grid extension alone never will. The technology is proven. The economics are favourable. And the geopolitical case is now writing itself in real time. The opportunity is here and it must be seized for the communities and countries that stand to gain the most.
Photo credit: Michael Gaylard, Flickr.
