2026 Global Energy Crisis Lesson Plan

Visual Capitalist – Gasoline price changes since Iran War

International Energy Agency – 2026 Energy Crisis Policy Response Tracker

East Asia Forum – Fuel Shock Hits Southeast Asia’s Poorest

World Bank – Middle East War to Spark Biggest Energy Price Surge in Four Years

IMF Blog – How the War in the Middle East Is Affecting Energy, Trade, and Finance

World Economic Forum – Which countries spend the most on food? This map will show you

Southeast NPR – Asia is being hit hard by Iran’s cutoff of oil and gas

Center for Global Development – The Iran War Oil Shock Will Hit the Hungry Hardest—Cash Should Be Part of the Response

Key Misconceptions to Address

• “The countries with the biggest price increases were hit hardest.” This is the most important misconception to address, and the data makes it tempting. The Philippines (+72.6%) was hit far harder than Germany (+18.6%), but not simply because the percentage is higher. The reason a 72% increase is catastrophic in Manila but manageable in Berlin has everything to do with income levels, food expenditure shares, government capacity, and supply chain resilience.
• “Japan wasn’t really affected because its prices barely changed.” Japan’s +8.2% reflects the success of its policy response. 80 million barrels released from strategic reserves and extended fuel subsidies is not an absence of vulnerability. Japan imports 95% of its crude oil from the Middle East. Without intervention, its price increase would have looked very different. This is a useful example of how good data tells you the outcome, not the underlying story.
• “Singapore was fine because it’s rich.” Singapore’s moderate +13.3% increase is partly wealth-related (deep financial reserves, refining capacity) but is also the product of specific policy choices: supply diversification, a bilateral energy deal with Australia, and refinery stabilisation. Wealth creates options, it doesn’t automatically produce good outcomes.
• “Governments can control gas prices if they want to.” The government response column shows what governments can do, including tax cuts, reserve releases, subsidies, or conservation mandates. None of these tools sets the global oil price.

Sensitivity Risks

• “The war was justified / unjustified.” Students, particularly those with family connections to Iran, Israel, the US, or the Gulf states may bring strong feelings about the underlying conflict. The lesson deliberately focuses on economic consequences, not military judgments.
• Anti-Iranian or anti-Muslim generalisation. Any comment that moves from “Iran’s government closed the strait” to generalisations about Iranian or Muslim people should be redirected immediately: “We’re talking about a decision made by a government, not the people of Iran – many of whom are also suffering the consequences of this war and of long-standing sanctions.”
• Dismissiveness toward lower-income countries. Watch for comments that frame the Philippines or Cambodia’s vulnerability as a consequence of their own choices or failures: “they should have planned better” or “that’s just how it is there.”
• Personal financial stress. Some students will have family members genuinely affected by higher fuel and food prices, including in the countries discussed. Treat contributions from lived experience with care as they ground the abstraction and should be welcomed. “Thank you for sharing that, this is exactly why this data matters beyond the classroom.”

Differentiation Tips

• Level 1 students may use the data table as a visual aid: ask students to circle the three countries with the biggest increases and the three with the smallest before they read anything.
• Level 2/3 extension: Ask students to identify which government response they think was most replicable by a lower-income country.
• Pair the Level 3 reading with the IMF blog post and East Asia Forum article as a source-analysis pre-writing task: “To what extent do these sources agree about who bears the greatest burden of the 2026 crisis?”
• The different ‘further reading’ sources in this lesson add a number of perspectives on how governments could respond.
• As an additional Level 2/3 extension task – you can have students connect this to SDG goals that aim to improve resilience to economic shocks. Eg. SDG 9.
• ELL/EAL students: Pre-teach the four key terms most likely to cause difficulty: interdependence, strategic reserve, supply chain, fertiliser. The lesson’s Key Terms table covers these but a spoken walk-through before reading helps

IB DP Global Politics Core topics: Power and interdependence; Excellent connection to development and sustainability thematic study – especially related to inequality and barriers to development. Suitable for Paper 1 source analysis and Paper 2 extended response preparation. Recommendation task can be used to lead into how to use this command term for Paper 3 and the Personal Engagement Project.

IB MYP Global Contexts: Globalisation and Sustainability (primary); Fairness and Development (secondary). Key Concept: Systems. Related Concepts: Equity, Interdependence. ATL skills: Critical Thinking (evaluating data; analysing arguments), Communication (structured discussion; evidence-based writing), Research (source evaluation).

IB DP Economics Connects to: Market failure and externalities; government intervention (taxes, subsidies, price controls); income distribution and equity; development economics. The government response column provides concrete policy examples for each intervention type studied at HL/SL.

C3 Framework (US) Constructing compelling and supporting questions about power and inequality; applying disciplinary concepts from economics and civics; evaluating sources and using evidence; taking informed action on issues of economic justice.

Common Core Literacy in History/Social Studies (US) Citing textual evidence to support analysis; determining central ideas and how they develop; evaluating the argument and specific claims in a text; integrating and evaluating multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (text + data table).

AP Human Geography / AP Comparative Government / AP Economics Relevant to: Economic development and inequality; political economy; government responses to market failure; supranational organisations (IEA, UNCTAD, World Bank) and their role in crisis response.

Canadian Social Studies — BC/Alberta/Ontario Global interdependence and economic decision-making; roles and responsibilities of governments; current events and citizenship; cause and consequence in social studies inquiry. Alberta – globalization focus.

Australian Curriculum — HASS Economics and Business: markets, pricing, and the role of government; supply chains and global trade. Civics and Citizenship: government responsibilities; global connections and Australia’s place in the world. Geography: environmental change and human systems; interconnections between places.

GCSE Geography / Economics (UK) Global resource management; interdependence; the development gap; government intervention in markets; case studies of economic inequality between countries.

A-Level Economics / Politics / Geography (UK) Market failure; government intervention; globalisation and its unequal effects; development and inequality; international institutions — supports AQA, Edexcel, and OCR units across all three subjects.