IEA releases major update to tracker of government responses to energy impacts of Middle East conflict - News - IEA

Online tool provides comprehensive survey of policies to promote energy conservation, support consumers and improve structural resilience – and now allows users to easily search for specific countries

The International Energy Agency has published a major update to its Energy Crisis Policy Tracker, a new interactive online tool that monitors government actions taken in response to the energy market impacts of the conflict in the Middle East.The conflict, which began on 28 February, has significantly impeded energy trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz, creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market and throttling natural gas exports from the region. While many governments have adopted different policy measures in response to the resulting energy crisis, including steps to increase global supplies of oil and natural gas, the tracker focuses on demand-side actions to conserve energy or support consumers.The latest update further expands the tool. In addition to identifying actions to conserve energy or protect consumers in the short-term, the tracker now also highlights structural policies introduced in response to the crisis that look to enhance longer-term resilience – such as those aimed at enhancing energy efficiency or electrification. This includes countries that have increased support for building retrofits, for example, or are promoting the rollout of electric vehicles. As of today, nearly 20 countries have announced these kinds of structural policies in response to the crisis.Furthermore, the tracker now allows users to easily filter the database of actions by country or region, which can help provide a clearer picture of key trends. The IEA has also widened the scope of its tracking to cover more countries – including small island developing states, which have been severely affected by this crisis. As a result, the tracker features details on 109 countries that have implemented energy-related measures in response to the crisis.The tracker, which is being updated regularly, complements the IEA’s broader work to support governments through the current crisis. The IEA has also released a report that presents a menu of demand-side measures that governments, businesses and households can take to shelter consumers from energy price pressures. And in March, the IEA announced the largest-ever coordinated release of emergency oil stocks in the Agency’s history. It continues to monitor the situation closely in coordination with leaders around the world.