Energy Crisis 2026: Five lessons in cross-sector collaboration
The war in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz exposed how quickly disruptions to supply chains and global energy markets can translate into higher costs across sectors. For WIG members, the lessons highlight the benefit of cross-sector collaboration in a crisis to help organisations respond faster and build resilience and preparedness before the next shock.
The five lessons on how organisations can collaborate across sectors in a crisis:
- Share the picture: Align fast on what's actually happening before considering solutions.
- Map the ripple effects: Bring every sector to the table to trace how the shock moves across the whole economy.
- Balance now and next: Protect the most exposed today without derailing long-term goals.
- Build structural solutions: Agree on what the industry can deliver and what the government can enable and start now.
- Benchmark abroad: Learn from how other countries handle the same shocks.
Why cross-sector collaboration is critical
During periods of price volatility, higher costs for electricity, fuel, and critical materials quickly impact consumers, businesses, and public services alike. This, in turn, affects economic growth. In April, the IMF cut its estimate for UK growth this year to 0.8% (although it increased to 1% in May), down from the 1.3% forecast made in January before hostilities in the Middle East began.
Against this backdrop, WIG convened energy sector leaders and DESNZ at a roundtable in April 2026. Leaders discussed effective responses to the crisis by sharing early signals, considering systemic impacts, and balancing immediate interventions with long-term strategy.
How organisations can collaborate across sectors in a crisis
1. Share a picture of the problem: Align quickly on what’s happening now before considering solutions.
At WIG’s energy roundtable, participants discussed the government’s policy approach to the crisis, along with industry insights on supply chain disruptions and how their operations were being affected by higher prices and the blockage in the Strait of Hormuz.
The roundtable provided an opportunity for leaders to consider together the systemic implications of the crisis and to discuss cross-sector approaches to managing the effects of supply disruption and rising prices.
2. Assess the broad range of impacts: Bring together government, industry, the public sector and charitable organisations to evaluate impacts and find solutions across the economy and society.
The roundtable discussed the widespread effects of rising energy prices affecting businesses across the supply chain.
Participants shared concerns about SMEs which are not covered by the energy price cap. SMEs could face significant cost increases, depending on their energy contract cycles, thereby raising prices across the supply chain.
Even businesses relatively insulated from rising electricity prices can still face higher transport costs driven by rising diesel prices. Non-energy products such as fertiliser have also risen in price due to supply disruptions. Participants also expected second-order costs, such as rising inflation and interest rates, to have a further impact on businesses.
These higher prices across the supply chain are likely to result in sustained higher costs for both businesses and the consumer.
The widespread effect of these price rises across the economy meant that a cross-sector discussion highlighting the broad implications of policy choices and business decisions for the whole economy was essential.
The roundtable allowed leaders from across sectors to consider these impacts and then stress-test ideas for developing effective responses to an interconnected crisis.
3. Balance short-term intervention with long-term strategy: Protect the most exposed groups while keeping longer-term objectives on track.
Building on their discussion about the impacts of higher prices across the economy, participants discussed how sectors can collaborate on a range of short- and long-term measures to support businesses and consumers.
In the immediate term, existing schemes such as the Warm Homes Discount and the UK government heating oil subsidy support price-vulnerable consumers. Further schemes could identify consumers with the lowest incomes via existing welfare systems and offer additional support along with advice from non-profit organisations.
In the longer term, home insulation grants could serve to reduce energy demand, lowering energy costs. They could also provide ongoing support for vulnerable consumers, especially when implemented in collaboration with businesses.
Implementation of schemes to support consumers would require close cross-sector collaboration between the public, private and non-profit sectors to identify eligible consumers, implement subsidies and home upgrades, and provide advice and support.
4. Building long-term resilience: Identify what the industry can deliver and what the government can enable.
UK businesses currently pay higher industrial electricity costs compared to peer countries. This is connected to the UK’s relative dependence on gas for electricity generation, meaning UK businesses are more exposed to price shocks in international energy markets. Reducing electricity costs for businesses could provide relief and positively impact economic growth.
At the WIG roundtable, participants discussed opportunities to shift the UK’s electricity generation toward a greater proportion of renewables, which could help stabilise energy prices for UK businesses in the long term. Further CfD auction rounds (which give government contracts to renewable energy developers), and upgrades to grid interconnectors would help bring new clean energy projects online.
Participants noted the potential for the private sector to finance interconnection projects, providing an opportunity for long-term cross-sector collaboration in this area.
5. Benchmark against international comparators: Establishing other jurisdictions’ approaches to crises provides invaluable insight into what is and isn’t working for cross-sector collaboration.
During the discussion on the energy crisis, several contributions focused on what lessons could be learned from international examples. For instance, France has invested significant capital and worked across sectors to support greater electrification. Investment in fleets of EV buses has reduced the public transport sector’s exposure to energy supply shocks.
In Australia, government financing for domestic battery storage has reduced consumers’ exposure to high fossil fuel prices by enabling households to generate their own electricity using solar panels and store the energy in batteries to use when needed. In 2026, Australia reached more than 400,000 home battery installations, representing 11.2GWh of cumulative energy storage capacity.
Benchmarking and learning from international examples can build long-term resilience in energy policy by drawing on successful cross-sector collaboration case studies.
How collaboration works in practice
The energy crisis in 2026 showed that energy pricing is not just an industry or government issue; it requires a whole-of-society response. WIG convened senior leaders from industry and DESNZ, which was impactful in maintaining situational awareness during supply disruption and coordinating policy and industry responses, improving outcomes for consumers and mitigating impacts on the economy. Cross-sector dialogue helped test which short-term measures would be most effective whilst also considering longer-term strategic objectives that require cross-sector collaboration, such as electrification, grid upgrades, and investment in clean power.
Next steps for WIG members
Navigating fast-moving contexts requires leaders to embed cross-sector collaboration behaviours within their organisations and with external partners. Key considerations include:
- Strengthening relationships: Identify your key cross-sector partners and how you will work together when conditions change quickly. In the energy sector, established relationships between industry leaders and government enabled trusted partnerships and discussions during a crisis.
- Making coordination easy: Clarify how decisions are made and what information can be shared so you can move at pace. Sharing operational observations to build a shared picture of the situation was critical in holding an effective roundtable on the energy crisis.
- Anticipating disruption: Run reviews to assess crisis preparedness and update your collaboration approach based on what you learn.
Conclusion
The recent energy crisis reinforced the idea that cross-sector collaboration is not an added benefit, but a necessary organisational capability. The most effective collaboration combines operational insights with policy discussion, allowing decisions to be tested, debated and better considered. By assessing what your organisation can implement now, effective cross-sector collaboration can be a tool available for tackling the next crisis.
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