West Asia conflict: Why is the IEA pressing for work from home, avoiding air travel amid escalating crisis? Details here

Global energy agencies are urging immediate behavioural changes as the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran continues to push up oil prices and raise inflation concerns worldwide. The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Friday outlined a set of measures aimed at easing pressure on consumers, including working from home, cutting highway speeds, and avoiding air travel where alternatives exist, as per reported by Reuters.

The recommendations come as the conflict resulted in a sharp rise in global energy prices, prompting governments to look at both supply- and demand-side responses.

The IEA said its proposals were actions that governments, businesses and households could take to ease the pain on consumers from the recent spike up in energy prices. These include working from home, reducing highway speed limits by at least 10 kilometres per hour, and avoiding air travel if other means of transport were available.

Earlier this month, the agency agreed to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles to stabilise markets, with the US contributing a lion's share of the supply.

"We have recently launched the largest ever release of IEA emergency oil stocks – and I am in close contact with key governments around the world, including major energy producers and consumers, as part of our international energy diplomacy," said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol in a statement.

"In addition to this, today's report provides a menu of immediate and concrete measures that can be taken on the demand side by governments, businesses and households to shelter consumers from the impacts of this crisis," he added.

Governments across regions have already started responding as the Iran war tightens energy supplies and pushes prices higher.

In Asia, some of the steps are directly aimed at reducing everyday fuel use. The Philippines has shifted to a four-day work week for government employees to limit commuting and save fuel. Pakistan has moved to restrict fuel consumption and even cancelled some public events to conserve energy. Nepal, facing pressure on LPG supplies, has begun rationing and encouraging a shift to electric alternatives. In India, authorities have focused on ensuring household cooking gas availability, even as supplies remain tighter for commercial users.

In Europe, the response has leaned more toward softening the financial impact.

Austria has cut fuel taxes and capped margins to bring down prices at the pump, while Spain is working on reducing fuel-related taxes and electricity levies to ease costs for consumers.