The war in Iran has only bolstered the case for moving away from fossil fuels and investing in renewable energy. As the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, recently said, the war ‘will have permanent consequences for the global energy markets’. Birol marvelled at how the global economy could be ‘held hostage to a 50km strait’ – a strait Iran was able to close in response to being attacked and through which 20% of all oil and liquified natural gas passes.
Birol also said any increased North Sea fossil fuel drilling in response to the conflict would ‘not change much for the UK’s energy security, nor would (it) change the price of oil and gas. (It) would not make any significant difference to this crisis’, adding that long-term UK oil and gas projects ‘will not lower the bills, the UK will remain a significant importer and price taker’.
The transition away from fossil fuels was well underway before the Iran war; in fact, researchers at Ember say global fossil fuel electricity generation fell by 0.2% in 2025, only the fifth drop this century and the first due to the structural shift towards clean power. And this month, more than 50 countries met in Colombia as part of the Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels conference – a sign of the growing discontent with the fossil-fuelled status quo. As Bill McKibben has said, ‘Sunlight travels 93m miles to reach the Earth – none of them through the strait of Hormuz.’
All of this is the backdrop to our drive to encourage Church investment in climate solutions. We’re doing that in a number of ways, including via a multi-city Green Investment Roadshow, with our first stop at Bristol Cathedral on 10 June. And your generosity has ensured that our Roadshow will be even bigger and better than it would have been otherwise, as we just raised an incredible £20,000 in seven days. Thank you for helping us hit our ambitious target!
