Geopolitical tensions are exposing significant vulnerabilities in the global energy system.
That’s one of the findings of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2024 report, which emphasises the urgent need for stronger policies and increased investment to speed up the transition to cleaner, more secure energy sources.
According to the IEA, today’s geopolitical uncertainties are creating risks to both energy security and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The analysis suggests that the world is entering a new phase in energy markets, where geopolitical hazards continue, but there may also be a surplus of oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and key clean energy technologies like solar panels and batteries by the latter half of the 2020s.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said: “In the second half of this decade, the prospect of more ample – or even surplus – supplies of oil and natural gas, depending on how geopolitical tensions evolve, would move us into a very different energy world from the one we have experienced in recent years during the global energy crisis“
