Energy security accelerates global shift to renewables

Energy security and affordability—once viewed as barriers to clean energy—are now emerging as major drivers of the global transition to renewables, according to experts at a World Economic Forum session.

During the virtual panel titled “Energy Transition: Amping Up or Powering Down?” held on Sept. 23, 2025, industry leaders emphasized that geopolitical volatility is reinforcing the urgency to move away from fossil fuels.

“Energy security in these volatile geopolitical times has become even stronger,” said Sumant Sinha, CEO and chair of India-based renewable energy company Renew.

Sinha explained that India imports nearly USD 200 billion worth of fossil fuels annually, making the case for investing in local renewable sources more compelling.

“To the extent that you can actually have a lot of the energy development happening within the country, and if you can also make the equipment that supports that also within the country, so much the better,” he added.

David Victor, professor at the University of California, San Diego, cautioned that energy security is often misunderstood as economic isolationism.

“Security comes from diversity and diversity alone,” Victor said, encouraging governments to diversify energy supply chains rather than pursue complete domestic self-sufficiency.

For emerging markets like the Philippines, which remain highly dependent on imported coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG), the panelists’ insights signal both a warning and a window of opportunity.

Tapping into indigenous energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, and waste-derived fuels could reduce vulnerability to international price shocks.

“Every country that has a human population has a large amount of waste, whether it’s human, animal, agricultural, all of these things,” said Dr. Rebecca Boudreaux, president and CEO of U.S.-based Oberon Fuels.

“And so that’s what, as we think about energy security, technologies enable us to better use all of these things that we have within our countries,” Boudreaux added.

While the experts acknowledged existing policy challenges and market uncertainties, they affirmed the long-term momentum of the global clean energy shift.

“News of the death of the energy transition is exaggerated,” Victor concluded.