Greenest countries eye drilling as fix for Iran crisis

News Energy and Climate World’s greenest countries eye drilling as fix for Iran crisis The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Mexico and the U.K. are debating whether to expand or restart domestic fossil fuel production. Listen AI generated Text-to-speech Copy Link Copied Share via email Share on X Share on WhatsApp Share on LinkedIn Free article usually reserved for subscribers Growing geopolitical instability has spooked governments into searching for alternatives to fossil fuel imports. | Pierre Crom/Getty Images This article is also available in: French April 23, 2026 7:00 pm CET By Zia Weise and Charlie Cooper BRUSSELS — Dozens of countries leading the global charge to go green are gathered in Colombia this week to champion moves to ditch fossil fuels. Yet even as they do, many of the same countries are struggling to resist the siren song of high-polluting oil and gas sitting dormant under their soils and seas. Growing geopolitical instability — and above all the ongoing war in Iran — has spooked governments into searching for alternatives to fossil fuel imports, in the hopes of insulating their economies from external crises. Advertisement Advertisement For most, that means doubling down on the transition to clean energy like solar and wind. But in countries endowed with fossil fuel resources, some leaders and lawmakers are also advocating for more drilling. This means things could get awkward at the first global conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels, a six-day get-together now underway in Colombia’s port town of Santa Marta. Denmark, for example, is considering extending oil and gas licenses. Germany wants to step up gas production. So does the Netherlands. Meanwhile, the British government is under pressure to approve further drilling in the North Sea. “Europe must stand on its own two feet,” said Morten Bødskov, Denmark's industry minister, when announcing the possibility of more licences. “This requires that we invest massively in our own energy capacity. First and foremost in green solutions. But also in the supply that keeps production running, while we strengthen the expansion of green, stable energy.” Such discussions show the energy transition “is a difficult thing even for front-runner countries,” said Beth Walker, senior policy adviser at the think tank E3G. And it isn’t a quandary only for European governments. Advertisement Advertisement Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, a former climate scientist, has lifted her opposition to hydraulic fracturing, a controversial gas extraction technology known as fracking, to reduce her country’s reliance on U.S. imports. “For many years, I myself said no to fracking. But when I look at new technologies and the country’s situation in terms of energy dependence, the worst we can do is simply say no,” Sheinbaum said last week. All those countries are still pushing to accelerate their transition toward clean energy. Domestic drilling, they insist, is just a temporary fix to deal with an acute crisis. Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks to reporters in Barcelona on April 18, 2026. | Oscar del Pozo/AFP via Getty Images Critics, however, warn that digging up more fossil fuels will do nothing to bring down short-term energy prices, but will increase greenhouse gas pollution and therefore global temperatures in the long run. “This is the moment for countries serious about the climate crisis to come together and break from fossil fuels,” said Tessa Khan, executive…

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