The IEA's World Energy Outlook warns that global energy demand growth is creating multiplying security risks across renewables and traditional fuels. Renewables saw record deployment for a 23rd consecutive year in 2024, yet oil, gas and coal also reached historic highs. Three scenarios (CPS, STEPS, NZE) project temperatures above 1.5°C, though the NZE pathway could bring temperatures back below that level over the long term. The agency calls on governments to diversify supplies, cooperate internationally and balance security, affordability and climate objectives.
IEA Warns Energy Risks Are Multiplying as Global Demand Surges — Calls for Diversification and Cooperation
The IEA's World Energy Outlook warns that global energy demand growth is creating multiplying security risks across renewables and traditional fuels. Renewables saw record deployment for a 23rd consecutive year in 2024, yet oil, gas and coal also reached historic highs. Three scenarios (CPS, STEPS, NZE) project temperatures above 1.5°C, though the NZE pathway could bring temperatures back below that level over the long term. The agency calls on governments to diversify supplies, cooperate internationally and balance security, affordability and climate objectives.
08:55 PM, 11/12/2025Environment
IEA warns energy risks are multiplying as global demand climbs
The International Energy Agency (IEA) warned on Wednesday that governments must diversify supply sources and step up international cooperation as global energy demand continues to rise. The Paris-based agency released its flagship World Energy Outlook, highlighting growing energy-security pressures across a wide range of fuels and technologies.
The report notes that renewable energy deployment reached record levels for the 23rd consecutive year in 2024, even as traditional fuels — oil, natural gas and coal — also hit historic highs. This simultaneous expansion of very different energy sources, the IEA says, creates complex security and policy challenges.
"When we look at the history of the energy world in recent decades, there is no other time when energy security tensions have applied to so many fuels and technologies at once," said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. "With energy security front and centre for many governments, their responses need to consider the synergies and trade-offs that can arise with other policy goals — on affordability, access, competitiveness and climate change."
Climate risks on the rise
The Outlook sets out three scenarios — the Current Policies Scenario (CPS), the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS) and the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) scenario — and the agency is careful to stress that none of them are forecasts. Based on the latest policy, technology and market data and supported by modelling, the report finds that under all three scenarios the world is projected to exceed the 1.5°C threshold above pre-industrial temperatures.
However, the IEA says the NZE pathway could, over the long term, bring global temperatures back below the 1.5°C threshold. The agency emphasizes that while the energy sector must prepare for security risks driven by higher temperatures, there remains scope to avoid the worst climate outcomes if governments act decisively.
What policymakers should consider
The IEA urges policymakers to:
- Diversify supply chains and sources to reduce vulnerability to shocks;
- Strengthen international cooperation on energy security and critical technologies;
- Design policies that balance energy security, affordability, universal access and climate goals;
- Prepare infrastructure and markets for increased climate-related risks.
By coordinating strategies and investing in resilient systems, governments can manage near-term security pressures while continuing the transition to cleaner energy pathways.