After renewable power’s record-smashing 2025, the Iran war could accelerate the shift as countries seek ‘structurally more resilient’ energy, UN says

The story of the energy transition in 2025 was one of fast-paced growth and global adoption. That trend was always likely to continue this year, but the war in Iran may be giving it a fresh geopolitical push.

Renewable power accounted for 85.6% of all new energy capacity installed worldwide last year, according to a report released Thursday by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), a UN body. Renewables now make up a record 49.4% of the world’s energy capacity, up from 46.3% in 2024.

That record-breaking streak has largely come down to plummeting costs for solar panels and wind turbines, the leading forms of clean power generation. These items have grown so cheap on a global scale that a UN analysis last year concluded over 90% of new renewable energy projects are now cheaper than alternative fossil-fuel-dependent sources.

Countries may now have an incentive other than economics to go green. The conflict in the Middle East has exposed how reliant global oil and gas supply is on certain choke points, including the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway has been under Iranian blockade for the past month, locking around 20% of the world’s oil and gas supply out of global market...