The ”Nadezhda” or ”Hope” nickel factory in Norilsk, Russia, emitting large plumes of smoke against a sunset sky. A Red Cross Red Crescent programme aims to bring relief to the isolated northern region. The disruption of global energy supplies is being felt worldwide, the UN’s top climate change official warned on Monday, as conflict in the Middle East drives oil and gas prices sharply higher – echoing the market turmoil triggered by the war in Ukraine.
Speaking at the 2026 Green Growth Summit in Brussels, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said the volatility underscored the strategic value of renewable energy. “Renewables turn the tables,” he said during a keynote address to the event, which brings together European climate and environment ministers alongside businesses, investors and other key stakeholders.
“Sunlight doesn’t 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 and to side-step might-is-right politics.” Indeed, renewable energy also delivers on people’s top priorities across the continent: security, well-paid jobs, better health and relief from rising living costs, he added.
“Fossil fuel dependency is ripping away national security and sovereignty and replacing it with subservience and rising costs,” he said, adding that the reality is what most voters are demanding, climate action delivers at scale. “Renewables and resilience keep bills down and create far more jobs,” he said.
Source: The UN
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