“Never let a good crisis go to waste,” may or may not have been said by Churchill, but the idea remains the same in energy, with a new IEA report exploring the recent unprecedented wave of global energy policy making and government spending.

A continuing series of global shocks in recent years have triggered an exceptionally active period of energy policy making, sharpening governments’ focus on energy security, resilience and affordability – and driving public spending on energy significantly higher.

The State of Energy Policy 2026 report provides a review of global energy policy changes in 2025. Drawing on the IEA’s Global Energy Policies Hub it tracks more than 6,500 policy measures across 84 countries. The report highlights changes in more than 200 areas of energy policymaking, including government spending, emergency stockholding, energy access, energy regulation and climate pledges.

Government spending on energy has more than doubled since 2019, a period that included the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2022 energy crisis. Globally, annual government spending on energy exceeded $405bn in 2025, according to the report.

The bulk of public spending has been directed towards longer-term investments in energy infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, energy efficiency and incentives for fuel switching.

Governments are also increasingly focused on addressing new forms of risk, particularly in the concentration of critical minerals and energy technology supply chains. Around a third of the critical mineral policies tracked by the IEA have been introduced in just the past five years, including in response to a rising number of export controls on minerals key to the energy sector.

The new report emphasises that the current energy crisis, driven by the conflict in the Middle East, could trigger a new dynamic phase of policymaking, with similarities to the responses seen during the oil crises of the 1970s.

“Energy policy is being shaped by a complex and evolving set of global constraints,” said Laura Cozzi, IEA director of sustainability, technology and outlooks. “Governments are acting to protect consumers, strengthen resilience and secure supplies, but they must also ensure that short-term responses do not come at the expense of long-term energy objectives. Choices made today may well have lasting implications for the future of energy systems."

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