Boosting electricity’s contribution to world energy needs from 20 per cent to 35 per cent features in a Turkey-led COP31 action agenda supported by Australia in its negotiations role.
The proposed 35 per cent increase by 2035 goal would be reached by building owners installing heat pumps and households swapping to electric cars to cut reliance on oil and gas for energy.
Paired with solar, wind and hydro electricity generation, electrification is broadly considered a cheap pathway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for most sectors, with some exceptions.
Based on analysis from the International Energy Agency and the International Renewable Energy Agency, boosting the share of final energy demand met by electricity is designed to keep the world on a path consistent with limiting warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, who is president of negotiations for the 2026 Conference of the Parties summit, said electrifying the global economy was the fastest way to strengthen energy security, cut emissions and bring down costs.
“Accelerating the energy transition will ease shocks to our energy systems, better protect our economies and households from high costs, and help keep bending the curve of emissions downwards,” he said at the Bonn Climate Change Conference in Germany.
Australia’s novel negotiations role was the consequence of a diplomatic compromise struck with Turkey for the rights to host COP31, with the conference set to take place in the southern Turkish province of Antalya.
Pre-COP meetings will be hosted by Pacific nations Fiji and Tuvalu as part of the arrangement.
The 2026 climate diplomacy agenda has been dominated by conflict in the Middle East triggering the biggest oil shock in history and spotlighting energy security.
IEA executive-director Fatih Birol said electrifying economies could enhance energy security.
“The current global energy crisis is accelerating the world’s shift into the age of electricity, adding to major trends such as the rise of AI and growing power demand from air conditioning, EVs, industry and more,” he said.
Turkey Climate Change Minister and COP31 president-designate Murat Kurum said all countries would have different starting points for electrification and differing pathways available to them.
“We will also work closely with all countries, especially with developing economies, to help facilitate access to technical assistance, capacity-building, and financial support in line with this goal.”
The “action agenda” posited for the United Nations climate talks in November further includes a goal of halving the growth in global waste by 2035, with scraps rotting in landfill a major source of methane and accounting for roughly 10 per cent of global emissions.
Aiming for at least a 25 per cent increase in energy efficient buildings by 2035 has also been introduced, with an accompanying stretch target of a 35 per cent improvement by the same date.
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