At the 2026 Green Growth Summit on Monday, UN experts took the opportunity to promote renewable energy in the midst of the global oil panic, urging Europe to not miss an opportunity to invest in green energy.

Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, reiterated the accessible and stable aspects of renewable energy, arguing that “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.”

Stiell claimed that fossil fuel dependency threatens national security and sovereignty, pointing out how fossil fuels create unstable energy markets, stating:

Some responses to the fossil fuel crisis, incredibly, argue for doubling down on the cause of the problem and slowing the shift to renewable energy even though it is clearly cheaper, safer, and faster to market. This is completely delusional because history tells us, this fossil fuel crisis will happen again and again.

The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel between Iran and Omani Musandam Peninsula, is a choke point for ships delivering oil to global markets. As result of the war in the Middle East, global oil supply has been threatened, causing a surge in oil and gas prices.

In 2025, renewables overtook coal as the world’s top electricity source with over $2 trillion being invested in clean energy. Stiell spoke of renewable energy opportunity as a “multi-trillion-euro goldmine of investment.” He argued that Europe should embrace green growth, create renewable energy policies, and utilize “education, strong institutions, smart regulation, social justice and innovation and intellectual property.”