Iran war puts focus on petrochemicals used in numerous products and a driver of climate change

BOGOTA, Colombia — The Iran war has exposed deep vulnerability in the global economy: dependence not just on oil, gas and coal for fuel, but on petrochemicals that underpin everything from food production to plastic packaging.

As disruptions ripple through energy markets, the war is highlighting how fossil fuels are embedded far beyond transport and electricity. In the short run, the widespread reliance will lead to higher prices for myriad products, while long-term the pollution that comes from petrochemicals will exacerbate climate change.

A two-week ceasefire announced late Tuesday is a hopeful sign that the war, and energy disruptions, will abate. But no matter when it finally ends, for many environmentalists to energy experts, ultimately the war is a stark sign that the status quo needs to change.

“We cannot continue relying on fossil fuels neither for energy nor for material,” said Delphine Lévi Alvarès, global petrochemicals campaign manager at the Center for International Environmental Law. “We cannot continue relying on fossil fuels for absolutely everything around us.”

Petrochemicals are expected to be a central topic of discussion in Santa Marta, a northern coastal city in Colombia, where governments will gather April 24-29 for an international conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels.

Experts say discussions will center on reducing demand because the sector is a major driver of future fossil fuel use. Indeed, environmentalists have long argued that fossil fuel companies, realizing that electric vehicles and green technologies like solar threaten their industries, see petrochemicals as a place for their products.

Petrochemicals are primarily made from oil and gas and used to manufacture a wide range of everyday products, from plastic packaging and synthetic clothing to fertilizers, paints and medical equipment. Unlike fuels that are burned for energy, petrochemicals are turned into materials, making them less visible but still deeply engrained in daily life.

Much of the global petrochemical industry is concentrated in the Persian Gulf region of the Middle East, including major producers of fertilizers and the chemicals used to make plastics.

Petrochemicals are a growing driver of fossil fuel demand

Petrochemicals already account for a significant share of global oil use and are expanding rapidly, even as some countries cut fuel use in power and transport.

Fredric Bauer, a senior lecturer at Lund University in Sweden who studies industrial transformation in chemicals and plastics, said the sector is increasingly central to the fossil fuel system.

“Petrochemicals are not just a sort of byproduct or something that happens on the side,” Bauer said.

He said petrochemicals account for 15% to 16% of oil demand and are among the fastest-growing uses, with new industrial facilities increasingly designed to maximize chemical production rather than fuels.

For consumers, that demand is largely invisible. Petrochemicals are built into everyday products such as plastics, fertilizers and synthetic materials, making their role in the economy easy to overlook.

Supply chains for petrochemicals are fragile

Beyond fuel markets, disruptions to oil and gas flows can quickly ripple through industries that rely on petrochemical inputs — particularly agriculture, which depends heavily on fossil fuel-based fertilizers.

Bauer said the Middle East plays a key role not only in exporting oil and gas, but also in supplying petrochemical feedstocks and fertilizers such as ammonia and urea. Any disruption during planting seasons can cascade into global food systems.

“It’s not just a disruption in the global trade of oil,” he said. “It’s also a disruption in the global trade of chemicals.”

That, he warned, can translate into higher food prices and broader economic strain.

Trisia Farrelly, an environmental anthropologist at the Cawthron Institute in New Zealand, said that the crisis underscores how exposed global systems remain after decades of dependence on fossil fuels.

“For me, this is like another COVID wake-up call,” she said, pointing to risks for food security and livelihoods tied to rising costs and supply disruptions.

She said that agriculture is one of the hardest sectors to transition away from petrochemicals, given its reliance on fertilizers, pesticides, plastics and fuel.

There are no simple alternatives

While reducing petrochemicals could significantly cut fossil fuel dependence, experts say there is no single solution.

Farrelly said that cutting petrochemical use — particularly in plastics — would “certainly” reduce reliance on fossil fuels. But she cautioned against assuming that alternatives like bio-based plastics can simply replace them.

“We need to be regulating out nonessential plastics,” she said, arguing that reducing demand is essential alongside any material substitution.

International negotiations on plastics pollution in recent years have failed to reach an agreement, in large part because major oil producing countries have balked at any attempt to put a limit on the production of plastics.

Bio-based plastics are generally more expensive to produce than conventional plastics made with fossil fuels and chemicals, limiting their adoption at scale, according to the European Commission Joint Research Center, the European Union’s science and knowledge service. They currently account for about 0.5% of global plastics production, the center said.

Farrelly said that shifting to alternatives without proper safeguards risks creating new environmental and social problems, particularly if it drives land use change or increases demand for agricultural inputs.

Bauer said that the same applies across the sector. Renewable energies like solar, wind and geothermal can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from production, but replacing fossil-based feedstocks is far more difficult. Recycling can help, he said, but only alongside reductions in overall consumption.

The American Chemistry Council, which represents U.S. chemical manufacturers, told The Associated Press in a written response to questions that petrochemicals are used in products ranging from medical devices and semiconductors to building materials and packaging, and are also key to renewable technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles.

The group said that companies are working to cut emissions through efficiency improvements, recycling and new technologies, and rejected the idea that demand must fall, calling petrochemicals “foundational” to sectors such as health care, food production, clean water and infrastructure.