8 May, 2026

For years, renewables have been sold as the ‘right’ thing to do: good for the planet and future generations, often associated with left‑leaning politics and ideologies. But clean energy has found a new, less idealistic pitch that even the toughest investors can’t ignore.

As energy prices spike in response to heightened geopolitical tensions, money is flowing into renewables at levels not seen since 2021. Investors may have forgotten the climate commitments and net zero pledges that drove the clean energy boom in the early 2020s, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the current crisis in the Middle East have reframed renewables as a tool for national resilience and energy security. As oil supply starts to look fragile, clean power stops being a nice‑to‑have and begins to look like strategic infrastructure, necessary to reduce reliance on volatile imports, exposed shipping routes, and unpredictable geopolitics.

The oil industry and its allies have called for increased North Sea drilling to ‘protect’ the UK from economic shocks exposed by the Iran war. However, Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency and one of the world’s leading energy economists, has argued that the UK should ‘forgo much of the further North Sea expansion’. He states the years spent getting the fields operational and the lack of trust in fossil fuels created by the current crisis wouldn’t allow for meaningful improvements in UK energy security or bills. The North Sea also offers less protection than its proponents claim, due to a fundamental mismatch between its low sulphur content crude and the capability  UK refineries can actually handle means just 7.7% of oil used in UK refineries came from the UK Continental Shelf, and even then it’s sold by private companies at global market prices, doing nothing for UK energy bills or security

And, of course, it is hard to write any story these days without mentioning AI and data centres. Over in the US energy demand from these sources is so vast that renewables, storage and grid infrastructure have become central to the race to scale AI, even when the political climate remains openly sceptical of climate regulation.

For years, climate progress has been slowed by culture‑war politics and ESG backlash. But energy security, paired with the momentum behind AI, cuts through that noise, appealing to finance ministers, defence planners, and voters worried about bills, not just sustainability teams. This shift could mean quicker permitting, larger infrastructure investments, and less tolerance for delay.

By Nia Vines