COP31 Pushes Global Electrification From 23% to 35% by 2035

The COP31 summit in Antalya, Türkiye, is pushing a global pledge to raise electricity's share of final energy consumption from about 23 per cent today to 35 per cent by 2035 — a target that demands more than a fourfold acceleration in the current rate of progress.

United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell framed the choice in blunt terms at a press conference on Tuesday. "Nations now face a choice: electric or shock. Rewire the global economy for the electricity age. Or accept ongoing fossil fuel cost pain for families, firms, and national budgets," he said.

The electrification drive anchors COP31's Energy and Transport Day, with the Turkish presidency promoting what it calls the 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge. The UN warned that dependence on imported fuels exposes economies to rising costs, supply disruptions and inflation, and Stiell said the global energy crisis had made the transition more urgent, not less.

What does the economics look like?

The case rests increasingly on cost. Stiell cited IRENA figures showing that 90 per cent of large renewable projects are now cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives.

"Because clean energy is cheap energy," he said.

Renewables have already overtaken coal in global electricity generation, and Stiell noted that existing technologies can electrify a large share of demand. "Up to 75 per cent of energy demand can already be electrified with existing technologies. We need to roll out those solutions faster, to far more communities in more countries. As we continue expanding access to electricity," he said.

He cautioned, however, that the transition remains uneven, and developing countries need greater financial and technical support to capture cheaper clean energy.

How steep is the 2035 target?

COP31 President of Negotiations Chris Bowen supplied the arithmetic. Global electrification rose from 17 per cent in 2005 to 19 per cent in 2015 and stands at 23 per cent now — an average annual improvement of just 0.3 percentage points.

"The world has no chance of holding to 1.5 degrees unless we lift that to 35 per cent. That would require more than a four-fold increase in the rate of electrification around the world," Bowen said.

He added that the climate crisis is unfolding alongside rising living costs, unstable energy markets and surging electricity demand from artificial intelligence. He described the present moment as the worst energy crisis in history, with fossil fuel costs rising while supply reliability declines. International cooperation, in his view, is not optional.

"Countries working together is not only the best way, it is the only way, the only way, of dealing with climate change and the other crises countries are facing," Bowen said.

What has imported fuel cost?

Murat Kurum, COP31 President of Negotiations from the Turkish side, put a number on the exposure. Fuel-importing countries incurred about $330bn in additional costs between March and August, a figure he said underscores the economic consequences of reliance on imported energy.

Kurum said the 35-by-35 pledge aims to cut that vulnerability by expanding electricity use across transport, buildings and industry. "Our goal is to raise that share to 35 per cent by 2035," he said.

Türkiye itself is pursuing energy independence through electrification and plans to back the target with practical measures during the conference. Kurum insisted the summit must deliver measurable outcomes rather than declarations without follow-through.

"We want this to be an implementation COP. We want to get results. We are firmly demonstrating our commitment to that, and we will continue to do so," he said.

What pressures sit behind the pledge?

Kurum warned that climate change compounds other global crises. He cited the strong El Niño phenomenon and a World Food Programme warning that it could push about 50 million more people into acute hunger.

He also insisted countries must not abandon the Paris Agreement's 1.5-degree Celsius goal, cautioning that even a temporary overshoot could cause irreversible damage.

Corporate weight sits behind the push. Stiell said 180 companies with combined revenues of nearly $1.7tn have called on the summit to seize the opportunities electrification offers, urging governments, businesses and cities to support the initiative.

He acknowledged the transition requires sustained effort, but cast COP31 as the moment to move from climate commitments to practical implementation.

The number to watch is 0.3 — the percentage points of annual electrification gain that must quadruple if the 2035 pledge is to mean anything at all.