John Denton, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), commented that the world is heading towards the ‘worst industrial crisis in living memory’ due to the ongoing war between the US, Israel and Iran. He said these things at a conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon today.
John Denton quoted the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) as saying that the world is currently facing an energy crisis far more severe than the oil crisis of the 1970s.
“From a business perspective, we believe this is going to be the worst industrial crisis in living memory,” he warned.
According to Denton, the scale of the crisis is not limited to high fuel prices. Industrial production systems around the world are collapsing and being displaced due to acute shortages of gas and other essential raw materials. Apart from this, the supply of fertilizers and agricultural inputs has stopped due to the deadlock in the Strait of Hormuz. This poses a serious risk to agricultural production and global food security in the next harvest season.
John Denton made the comments ahead of the start of the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Yaounde, Cameroon.
He further said, ‘Currently global trade is being redefined due to environmental conflicts and geopolitical tensions.’ He emphasized on an effective and strong multilateral trading system to overcome this crisis.
