Amsterdam, Netherlands - Between January and August 2026, energy prices accounted for the entire rise in eurozone inflation from 1.7% to 3.2%, according to new Greenpeace International analysis that exposes the scale of fossilflation.
Without the oil price shock driven by the US-Israel war on Iran, eurozone inflation in August would have been 2.2%, rather than 3.2%. The findings show how fossil fuel dependence leaves households exposed to price shocks, which in turn have an impact on the wider economy.[1]
John Noël, campaigner at Greenpeace International, said: "The problem is bigger than any single conflict or oil price spike. As long as economies remain tied to volatile fossil fuel markets, repeated disruptions are hitting household costs. Governments must protect people from rampant fossilflation by replacing the fossil fuel system with decentralised renewable energy and electrification."
The report found that energy prices accounted for 97% of fluctuations in eurozone inflation since 2024, when the temporary distortions of the pandemic years had cleared, demonstrating that fossilflation is a recurring source of economic instability that needs to be addressed by governments and central banks, rather than being treated as a temporary phenomenon that is outside of their scope.
The analysis also found that households can be protected from that economic exposure by switching to renewable energy like wind and solar, and electrified technologies powered by electricity instead of fossil fuels. In an illustrative simulation, a fully electrified German household using an electric vehicle, heat pump, rooftop solar and battery storage faced a 1.5% price increase between January and August 2026, compared with 2.5% for a standard household using the official consumer basket.
Noël added: "While fossil fuel companies are making obscene profits, people are increasingly struggling to make ends meet. Renewable energy can protect households and give them more control over their bills. Rooftop solar, batteries, electric vehicles, public transport and heat pumps can reduce the exposure of countries, families and businesses to volatile fossil fuel markets. Central banks need to recognise fossil fuels as an economic risk and governments must accelerate the shift to decentralised renewable energy systems that shield people and local businesses from recurring price shocks, rather than leaving them exposed."
Greenpeace is calling on governments to speed up the shift from fossil fuels to decentralised renewable energy and electrification, which can be funded by introducing permanent taxes on oil and gas companies' profits. Replacing dependence on volatile international oil and gas markets with clean energy generated closer to home would help protect household budgets from future price shocks while cutting climate pollution as part of a just energy transition.
