"Along with its brutal human costs, this newest upheaval shows yet again that fossil fuel dependence leaves economies, businesses, markets and people at the mercy of each new conflict or trade policy lurch," said Simon Stiell, the head of the United Nations climate body.

"But there is a clear solution to this fossil fuel cost chaos -- renewables are now cheaper, safer and faster-to-market, making them the obvious pathway to energy security and sovereignty," he said in a post on LinkedIn.

European gas prices, which had already been rising sharply, skyrocketed Monday morning after the Qatari state energy company announced it was halting production of liquefied natural gas following Iranian drone attacks on its facilities.

Oil prices also soared by around eight percent as the war effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for nearly a quarter of the world's seaborne oil supplies.

Besides their positive impact on the Earth, renewable energies have far less price volatility than fossil fuels in the face of geopolitical turmoil -- especially solar, now the cheapest energy source in many places.

But despite a rapid rollout of renewables in recent years, "the global transition is still too slow, and many developing nations need much more support to get on board", said Stiell.

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