The disruption to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz in June 2025 has demonstrated how quickly geopolitical tensions can translate into energy insecurity. Fuel-price volatility and higher transport costs put pressure on households, businesses and governments across regions with very different capacities to absorb it. More than a year on, the episode still shapes how governments think about energy security, and it has sharpened rather than settled the debate about how transport systems should be built for the next disruption.
For some countries, the immediate priority may be energy affordability and security. Others invest in electrification, alternative fuels, public transport or new infrastructure. Both responses are rational, but they are pulling policy attention and investment in different directions. The session examines whether energy security and the sustainability agenda can be reconciled rather than treated as competing priorities, and what the past year of volatility means in practice for transport policy and investment going forward. The aims is that participants take a sharper, shared vocabulary for discussing energy security and transport decarbonisation together, and with concrete reference points to carry into the sessions that follow across the symposium.
