Agency warns of worst energy crisis; urges Asian nations to diversify supply chain

The International Energy Agency (IEA) and the US on Tuesday warned of a “major energy crisis” affecting the world and urged Asian countries to diversify their supply chains to be less dependent on countries like Russia.

“The world has never witnessed such a major energy crisis in terms of its depth and its complexity,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said at a global energy forum in Sydney. “We might not have seen the worst of it yet—this is affecting the entire world.”

Move away from fossil fuels
Birol and US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said that the current energy crisis, stemming mostly from sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February, should prompt Indo-Pacific countries to transition away from fossil fuels.

“We want to make sure that we are not as nations under the thumb of petro-dictators, under the thumb of those who don’t share our values, under the thumb of those who would like to control strategic aspects of the supply chain,” Granholm said.