Clean energy as national security

We’re in the middle of a fundamental shift in how we access energy, a rapid transition driven by the changing structural realities of the global economy. It is a fundamental shift not just in what kind of energy source we use, but in the power dynamics of who owns the energy and how it reaches our homes.

This energy transition has moved beyond the exploratory stage and is no longer stalled by endless debates over how to prevent catastrophic climate impacts—such as the total loss of coral reefs, rising sea levels, extreme droughts, floods, wildfires, and severe storms.

The war in Iran and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz have changed the debate.

Instead of just focusing on crucial green goals and keeping temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the main goal now is to ensure we have enough energy (and, hopefully, a clean one). Along with cybersecurity, secure energy is now a top national security concern, as national security used to focus mostly on traditional threats, both at home and abroad. (In energy politics, this is called “energy sovereignty,” but that is a topic for another time.)

The holdouts in this energy transition, whether big or small players, are staring not only at their ballooning electric bills but also at rising inflation and elevated oil prices at the pump. The prices of basic goods and services are no longer confined to domestic regulatory and policy issues or the stability of supply chains.

As price stability has become a hostage to global wars, these questions are worth pondering: Will the United States-Israeli war on Iran hasten the transition to renewable energy (RE)? Are economies and markets recognizing that oil and natural gas—fuels of modern industrial and technological machines—have metamorphosed into geopolitical commodities, increasingly too risky and unstable as energy sources because only a few countries control them (mostly in North America and the volatile Middle East)?

Geopolitical weapon. Analysts are now saying that oil is no longer a commodity; it is a geopolitical weapon. A day before the war in Iran began, J.P. Morgan forecast a “bearish outlook” (downturn) for the international benchmark oil price, Brent. The forecast pointed out that regime changes in oil-producing countries could have a profound impact on oil policy, saying “These events typically lead to a substantial spike in oil prices, averaging a 76 percent increase from onset to peak” (source: https://tinyurl.com/3tbupc9h).

But the war in Iran drove energy prices much higher worldwide, even tripling them in the Philippines last month. Living in a country where electricity rates are the second-highest in Asia, energy independence for Filipino families is no longer a luxury—it is the only way to “firewall” household budgets from the debilitating effects of distant conflicts.

The low-carbon pathway—built on abundant clean energy—is the most reliable route to long-term price stability of energy sources.

In its April 2026 analysis, the World Resources Institute (WRI) declared, “Clean Energy is Secure Energy.” The report argues that recent events, such as the Iranian conflict and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz (through which 20 percent of the world’s oil flows), highlight how fossil fuels are a “geopolitical liability.” (source: tinyurl.com/3r7a4akb).

Besides the climate and health advantages of clean energy systems, “what the current Iranian energy crisis reveals is that clean energy systems’ greatest benefits today might actually be price stability and domestic energy resilience. Clean energy can fuel national security—because no Strait of Hormuz can blockade the wind, sun, water, or Earth’s own heat,” WRI said.

If the Philippines had invested heavily in renewables like China and expanded access to solar power as Pakistan has, clean energy could have shielded us from the effects of this oil supply blockade.

Distributed solar PVs boom. To insulate its households and businesses from fuel shortages, Pakistan deployed distributed solar photovoltaics (or solar rooftops). “Grid-connected and non-grid-connected solar PV installations across the country have grown so much since the beginning of the decade that they are dramatically reducing the need to use natural gas for electricity generation, particularly during the day. Analysis indicates that Pakistan’s solar boom had already avoided $12 billion in oil and gas imports even before the Iran war began,” WRI noted.

Meanwhile, here in the Philippines, power distributors are up in arms against “guerrilla” rooftop solar installers, demanding tighter regulations even as their consumers’ electric bills go through the roof.

It’s high time for our country to decentralize—and democratize—power generation, allowing households to patronize RE systems that either have the flexibility not to connect to the power grid (such as solar pumps), or to implement favorable net metering for solar rooftops that subsidizes customers’ ability to sell power into the grid.

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