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The War in Iran Exemplifies the National Security Rationale for Renewables
Among its many implications, the US-Israeli war against Iran exposes energy risks for countries reliant on fossil fuel imports from the Middle East, underscoring the energy security benefits of clean energy. The widening conflict, including the blockage of the oil and gas chokepoint at the Strait of Hormuz, is potentially the most disruptive conflict to the energy market since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. With oil and gas prices spiking and no clear end to the conflict, market analysts predict potential long-term disruptions to the energy supply chain, which would add further uncertainty to an already unstable geopolitical situation. Countries that react to this moment by seeking to stockpile or shift suppliers of oil and LNG simply exchange short-term energy security for long-term vulnerability, prolonging their exposure to geopolitical shocks and failing to meet their increasing energy demands.
Countries in East Asia, such as South Korea, Japan, and China, are especially reliant on oil and LNG from the Middle East, the loss of which will have significant impacts on their economies. In contrast, the falling prices, improved resilience, and strategic autonomy offered by renewable sources make them a secure option for countries looking to minimize their exposure to risk.
For more, the Center for Climate and Security has hosted “Renewable Energy is National Security” communities of practice across East and Southeast Asia, and you can read outputs from these convenings below:
- Protecting Korea’s National Security with Renewable Energy
- The interrelation of climate change and national security, The Korea Times
- The National Security Rationale for Japan’s Transition to Renewable Energy
- Protecting Japan’s National Security with Renewable Energy
- Indonesia’s Climate Security and Renewable Energy Nexus: A Landscape Assessment
Event Summary: Food on the Frontlines? Evaluating the Future of Defense in an Unstable Climate (Munich Security Conference 2026)
Colombia’s Minister of Defense, Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez Suárez, talking about climate change at the MSC. (Lukas Barth-Tuttas/MSC)
In one of the opening panels of the 2026 Munich Security Conference (MSC), Colombia’s Minister of Defense, Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez Suárez, remarked: “…things that happen in one part of the world can affect the entire world. The threat of climate change is real and we are here, of course, to solve that problem together.”
Referring to the ongoing torrential rains that have devastated Colombia by displacing thousands of families, destroying key infrastructure, disrupting access to food, and decimating crucial crop yields, Minister Suárez’s comments hold true across the world as these threats do not stop at one country’s borders. While many defense leaders recognize the reality of climate threats, the interconnections between climate change, food and agriculture, and national security remain insufficiently incorporated into many countries’ security planning.
At the 2026 MSC, the Center for Climate and Security (CCS) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) convened defense, climate, and agri-food leaders for an official MSC Side Event as part of CCS’ Feeding Resilience Program to discuss this nexus in the NATO context.
(more…)WATCH: How Might Solar Geoengineering Affect Global Security?
Earlier this week, CCS Director Erin Sikorsky joined SRM360 for a live webinar on the nexus of national security and solar geoengineering. Other speakers included Sofia Kabbej, associate researcher at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS), an IMCCS consortium member, and Beth Chalecki, associate professor of International Relations at the University of Nebraska Omaha.
CCS also partnered with SRM360 on a new primer on the topic, which you can read here.
For more on CCS’s work on the security dynamics of climate intervention, click here.
CSR Takes Main Stage at the 2026 Munich Security Conference
The Council on Strategic Risks (CSR), including its Center for Climate and Security (CCS), had several team members take the Main Stage at the Munich Security Conference last weekend. From the compounding effects of climate change to the new frontier of competition in outer space to the challenge of managing nuclear proliferation, CSR experts offered key observations and analysis as the world convenes to solve our most pressing security challenges.
A Peacekeeper’s Guide to the Galaxy? Relaunching Space Governance
CSR Chief Executive Officer Mallory Stewart joined government ministers from France and Germany, as well as private-sector leaders, to discuss the future of space security and the implications of emerging technologies for 21st-century space governance.
Mushrooming: Tackling Growing Nuclear-Proliferation Risks
CSR Board Member Rose Gottemoeller talked about the future of nuclear risk with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a leading member of the French National Assembly, and academic experts.
Degrees of Instability: Climate Security in a Warming World
CCS Director Erin Sikorsky moderated a Climate Security Town Hall among German, Indian, and US senior policymakers on how a changing climate and environmental conditions are reshaping and exacerbating global patterns of vulnerability and instability.
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