Security experts urge IEA to step up energy crisis response

Paris, France – Sixteen independent energy security experts have written to Dr Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, urging a stronger response to the ongoing global oil and gas crisis. The group of former military chiefs, academics, and geopolitics experts says accelerating the transition to clean, safe, affordable energy systems is a security imperative. It calls on the IEA to provide guidance to governments on how to reduce exposure to volatile oil and gas markets, as it did to the EU immediately after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The open letter says:

• Recent escalations in the Gulf have exposed the dangers of dependence on oil and gas. Too much of the global economy relies on fuels transported through geopolitically contested chokepoints. The ongoing supply disruption has triggered energy shortages, fossilflation and food insecurity around the world.
• The IEA’s initial response has not matched the scale of the crisis. Its coordinated release of oil reserves and advice on measures to save fuel are temporary fixes that do not shield consumers from future shocks. Structural responses are needed.
• Clean energy can cut household energy costs today and boost resilience to geopolitical risk. Homegrown renewables, efficiency and electrification reduce import dependence and keep bills low and predictable for consumers. Governments urgently need advice on how to accelerate the transition to clean, safe, affordable energy systems.
• The IEA’s planned coordination with the World Bank and IMF must help get finance flowing towards immediate, lasting solutions to the crisis.

Dr Pauline Heinrichs, Lecturer in War Studies (Climate and Energy), King’s College London, said:
“As war, fuel shortages and fossilflation hit people’s lives and livelihoods, short-term fuel saving measures can only go so far. The International Energy Agency needs to be explicit about the cause of fossil fuel energy crises, namely fossil fuels.”

Tom Middendorp, former Netherlands Chief of Defence, Chairman of the International Military Council on Climate and Security, said:
“The energy transition is not only about climate — it is a strategic choice to reduce vulnerability and strengthen autonomy.”

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If you have questions or wish to interview any of the signatories, contact Daniel Donner [email protected] (Europe) or Al Johnson-Kurts [email protected] (North America).

Notes for editors:
1. On 1 April, the IEA announced a coordination group with the IMF and World Bank Group to respond to the energy and economic crisis.

2. On 20 March, the IEA published Sheltering From Oil Shocks, 10 measures governments could take to cut demand and ease price pressures. These included reducing speed limits on roads and working from home. By its own analysis, even full implementation of these measures would not make up for the volume of supply disrupted by the conflict.

3. On 11 March, IEA member countries agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves, the largest such release in IEA history.

4. A week after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the IEA released a 10-point plan for the EU to cut Russian gas imports. This included quantifying how much demand could be avoided by accelerating the clean energy transition.