| Muqsit Ashraf Global Lead for Industry and Enterprise, Accenture

| Roberto Bocca Head, Centre for Energy and Materials; Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum

Over the past decade, the transition towards more secure, sustainable and affordable energy systems has seen measurable progress driven by long-term ambition, declining technology costs, strengthening policy commitments and growing investment. These forces remain essential. Yet the pace and direction of the transition has been defined not by ambition alone, but by short-term realities: economic conditions, geopolitical shocks and the capacity of systems to absorb change.

In 2026, rising geopolitical tensions, trade fragmentation and surging demand are reshaping priorities; energy security, affordability and system resilience are more visibly central design principles. This reflects not a departure from transition goals, but a recognition that progress cannot be sustained without stronger foundations.

Recent energy market disruptions have exposed longstanding energy security vulnerabilities: supply concentration, high import dependence and infrastructure constraints. The impacts are uneven; emerging economies face the sharpest trade-offs, where limited fiscal space and restricted access to capital narrow the room to act. At the same time, the enabling conditions that underpinned progress in recent years, supportive policy environments, accessible capital and strong innovation momentum, can no longer be assumed.

In its sixteenth year, the Energy Transition Index (ETI) tracks energy systems across 120 countries using 44 indicators. It assesses both current system performance – across security, sustainability and affordability – and transition readiness, including the policy, financial, infrastructural and innovation conditions required to sustain progress over time.

This year’s ETI highlights three defining signals.

First, a pause. Overall progress has flatlined, and transition readiness has declined for the first time in over a decade, signalling a weakening of the foundations needed for future gains – one that we hope proves temporary, rather than the start of a more prolonged period of stagnation.

Second, rising pressure. The transition is shaped by compounding stresses: geopolitical fragmentation, supply and price volatility, accelerating demand and capital concentrating in a limited number of markets while high-growth economies remain underserved.

Third, a shifting priority. Energy security is emerging as a core determinant of competitiveness. Countries that integrate resilience into system design are better positioned to attract investment and sustain deployment, but at the risk of widening regional divergence.

The energy transition is not reversing, but it is fracturing and becoming more uneven. This means that decisions made by government and business leaders are all the more important and complex. The ETI aims to provide a consistent, evidence-based view of how energy systems are performing, how prepared they are for the future, and where the gaps between ambition and delivery are widening, supporting more informed decision-making at a time when both urgency and uncertainty are high.