Energy security and affordability concerns, long viewed as obstacles to clean energy, are now becoming key drivers of the global transition, experts said at the World Economic Forum’s “Energy Transition: Amping Up or Powering Down?” virtual session on September 23.

“Energy security in these volatile geopolitical times has become even stronger. And so those are actually driving the energy transition, if anything, in other parts of the world even faster,” said Sumant Sinha, CEO and chair of India’s Renew.

Sinha noted that India imports nearly USD 200 billion worth of fossil fuels annually. Reducing exposure to global market volatility, he said, makes local renewables more attractive. “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.”

David Victor, professor at the University of California, San Diego, echoed that energy security is being misinterpreted as autarky. “Security comes from diversity and diversity alone,” he said, urging governments to diversify global supply chains instead of trying to produce everything domestically.

For emerging economies like the Philippines—heavily dependent on imported coal and LNG—the insights are a warning and an opportunity. Leveraging local solar, wind, geothermal, and even waste resources could buffer against fuel price shocks and strengthen resilience.

Dr. Rebecca Boudreaux, president and CEO of Oberon Fuels, said technologies are expanding what counts as “natural resources.” “Every country that has a human population has a large amount of waste, whether it’s human, animal, agricultural, all of these things. 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.”

The panelists agreed that while policy headwinds exist, the global transition’s fundamentals remain strong. “News of the death of the energy transition is exaggerated,” Victor said.

Should the Philippines treat energy security as a reason to accelerate, not delay, its renewable transition? Stakeholders are invited to join the conversation. 

Follow Power Philippines on Facebook and LinkedIn or join our Viber community for more updates.