BRC calls for action on Middle East impacts: comment

British Retail Consortium (BRC) calls on the Government to act on rising costs exacerbated by the Middle East crisis: comment

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By Christian Jaccarini

info@eciu.net

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Commenting on a call by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) for the Government to act on rising costs exacerbated by the Middle East crisis, Chris Jaccarini, food and farming analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said: 

“Let’s be clear, the biggest driver of food price inflation in recent years and in the months to come is our dependence on burning oil and gas and the extreme weather this drives [1]. It’s now almost inevitable that food prices will have increased by 50% by the end of this year since just 2021 [2] with next year set to be hottest year on record [3].

“The UK has made great strides in deploying renewables, leaving gas power stations running less of the time, which is insulating us from these gas price shocks and drove down the wholesale cost of electricity by a third last year [4]. But funding is needed to modernise the electricity grid given a lack of investment in previous decades. Efforts to get to net zero will not only help to bring our climate back into balance, but reduce our dependence on foreign oil and gas.” 

Notes to editors:

  1. ECIU, Families hit by £605 food bill as extreme weather and energy crisis bites (2023): https://eciu.net/media/press-releases/2023/families-hit-by-605-food-bill-as-extreme-weather-and-energy-crisis-bites & ECIU, Why food prices are still rising: butter, beef and milk to blame (2025): https://eciu.net/media/press-releases/2025/why-food-prices-are-still-rising-butter-beef-and-milk-to-blame  
  2. ECIU, Food prices set to rise by 50% since start of cost-of-living crisis, new analysis shows (2026): https://eciu.net/media/press-releases/food-prices-set-to-rise-by-50-since-start-of-cost-of-living-crisis-new-analysis-shows 
  3. Guardian, Are we heading for ‘super El Niño’ – and what could we expect? (2026) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/13/el-nino-explainer
  4. ECIU, Wind farms cut power prices by almost a third in 2025 (2026): https://eciu.net/media/press-releases/wind-farms-cut-power-prices-by-almost-a-third-in-2025 


For more information or for interview requests:

George Smeeton, Head of Communications, ECIU, t: 020 8156 5305, m: 07894 571 153, email: george.smeeton@eciu.net 

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