World must “accelerate the transition to clean energies,” urged COP31 President Murat Kurum on Thursday at the International Energy Agency (IEA) conference, where the agency’s head acknowledged the “major challenge” of the Middle East war on the economy. “We now know clearly that the global economy needs to change its energy model. And the most crucial step is to accelerate the transition to clean energies,” said Murat Kurum at this meeting in Paris dedicated to the energy transition, speaking in Turkish with his remarks translated by an interpreter. As was the case during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the war in the Middle East has shown the world its strong dependence on fossil fuels, this time with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, through which 20% of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) used to transit before the conflict. The price of Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, exceeded $126 on Thursday during Asian trading, reaching a peak since early 2022 when the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine caused a surge in prices. Since the beginning of the year, the price of Brent has doubled. This surge in prices is having significant effects on economies worldwide, with diminishing growth prospects. The world is facing “a major challenge in terms of energy and economy,” said IEA chief Fatih Birol on Thursday at the opening of this international conference on energy transition, attended by representatives from states and major companies in the energy and financial sectors.
