From energy crisis to energy transition: How renewables are reshaping energy security

The continuing conflict in the Middle East is disrupting global energy markets and pushing up fuel prices, with knock-on effects far beyond the region.For Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the crisis is also reshaping how the world understands the phrase “energy security.” For decades, that meant a country's reserves of oil and gas. Today, he says, countries want a system that is more diverse, decentralised and within their own control – and renewables are becoming central to that.UN News/Jing ZhangIRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera (fifth from the right) visits an offshore wind power project by China’s Yancheng City.From reserves to autonomySpeaking to UN News‘s Jing Zhang during the General Assembly's High-Level Week, Mr. La Camera traced today's thinking back to the oil shocks of the 1970s, when the world first treated energy security as a systemic concern and set up international bodies to stabilise markets. Back then, energy security meant one thing: reserves of oil and gas.“Countries have realized that a centralized energy system based on fossil fuel doesn't provide energy security,” he said. Fossil fuel supply...