Australia, Turkey launch ambitious electrification goal
The COP31 action agenda, led by Turkey and supported by Australia in its negotiating role, includes increasing the contribution of electricity to world energy needs from 20 percent to 35 percent.
The proposed target of a 35 percent increase by 2035 would be achieved as building owners install heat pumps and switch to electric cars to reduce homes’ dependence on oil and gas for energy.
Electrification, along with solar, wind and hydroelectric generation, is seen as a cheap way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for most sectors, with some exceptions.
Increasing the share of final energy demand met by electricity is designed to keep the world on a consistent path to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, according to analyzes by the International Energy Agency and the International Renewable Energy Agency.
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, who chairs the 2026 Conference of the Parties summit negotiations, said stimulating the global economy was the fastest way to strengthen energy security, reduce emissions and reduce costs.
“Accelerating the energy transition will cushion shocks to our energy systems, better protect our economies and households from high costs and help bend the emissions curve downward,” he told the Bonn Climate Change Conference in Germany.
Australia’s new role in the negotiations was the result of a diplomatic compromise reached with Türkiye over hosting rights to COP31, with the conference to be held in Türkiye’s southern Antalya province.
As part of the arrangement, Pacific countries Fiji and Tuvalu will host the pre-COP meetings.
The 2026 climate diplomacy agenda was dominated by the conflicts in the Middle East that triggered the largest oil shock in history, and energy security was brought to the fore.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said that stimulating economies can increase energy security.
“The current global energy crisis is accelerating the world’s transition to the electric age, contributing to key trends such as the rise of artificial intelligence and increasing power demand from air conditioning, electric vehicles, industry and more,” he said.
Turkish Minister of Climate Change and COP31 presidential candidate Murat Kurum said all countries will have different starting points for electrification and different paths available to them.
“In line with this goal, we will work in close cooperation with all countries, especially developing economies, to facilitate access to technical assistance, capacity building and financial support.”
The “action agenda” put forward for the United Nations climate talks in November also includes a target to halve the growth in global waste by 2035, with scrap rotting in landfills a major source of methane and accounting for around 10 percent of global emissions.
It is also aimed to target an increase of at least 25 percent in energy efficient buildings by 2035 and to achieve a 35 percent improvement by the same date.
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