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The recent shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz has heightened the urgency surrounding climate action efforts that advocates have long championed. This critical chokepoint’s closure has drawn attention to the vulnerabilities embedded in our global dependence on oil and gas—not only as fuels for transportation but also as essential components in food production, primarily through synthetic fertilizers.
Sunlight, seaweed, and soil share one key trait: they do not rely on passage through the Strait of Hormuz. This fact underscores a potential silver lining amid the economic turmoil reverberating from the Middle East to fuel stations and grocery stores worldwide. The disruption in supply chains this spring highlighted just how deeply reliant many systems are on fossil fuel imports, a problem intensifying the ongoing climate crisis. Despite clear evidence of environmental harm, climate change has often lacked traction in policymaking and public urgency, primarily because it hasn’t been perceived as an immediate threat demanding urgent intervention before political cycles or consumer deadlines.
However, soaring energy costs and looming food shortages have triggered renewed enthusiasm for green solutions long promoted by environmentalists. Renewable energy stands out as a clear example. Countries that have invested in renewables are already seeing substantial financial benefits by reducing their dependence on volatile fossil fuel markets. Hugh Knowles, former executive director of Friends of the Earth, highlights Pakistan’s rapid adoption of solar power as a strategic move to mitigate risks arising from the US-Iran conflict. From 2020 to 2025, solar energy’s share in Pakistan’s electricity mix increased dramatically from 2.9% to 32%, saving the country more than $12 billion in fossil fuel imports. This momentum continues, with projected savings of an additional $6.3 billion expected in 2026 as new solar capacity comes online.
Author and environmentalist Bill McKibben emphasizes the inherent security of renewables by pointing out their fundamental difference from fossil fuels: “Sunlight has to travel 93 million miles to reach the Earth, but none of those miles go through the Strait of Hormuz.” Beyond energy security, renewables offer greater resilience since power generation is more dispersed. For example, Ukraine’s shift away from coal toward solar and wind power partially stems from concerns over vulnerabilities to attacks on concentrated energy infrastructure. Jeff Oatham of Ukraine’s largest energy provider, DTEK, notes that while a single missile could incapacitate a coal plant, causing comparable damage to a wind farm would require around 40 targeted strikes. Similarly, the reliance on nitrogen fertilizers—many of which transit through the Strait—has made agricultural inputs expensive. In contrast, regenerative farming practices that reduce fertilizer use show promise; a 2025 study reported only a minimal yield reduction of 1–2%, alongside a more than 60% decrease in fertilizer costs.
Interest is also growing in alternative natural fertilizers such as seaweed, a traditional farming aid that is seeing renewed application. UK farmers now use drones to apply seaweed-based treatments to wheat fields, while off the Dutch coast, a seaweed farm supported by Amazon recently completed its first harvest, situated among offshore wind turbines. This current crisis echoes past moments, like the 1973 oil price shock, which spurred advances in energy efficiency—only for many gains to be lost once prices fell again. The real risk today lies not in the inability to innovate toward sustainable solutions, but in slipping back into complacency once the Strait reopens and oil supplies stabilize, potentially leaving us vulnerable all over again
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