‘Electrification’ at heart of Tükiye’s COP31 agenda

BONN

Türkiye, set to host COP31, has placed electrification at the center of its climate agenda, urging countries to back a voluntary target that would see electricity account for 35 percent of global energy demand by 2035.

Speaking at the U.N. climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany, Türkiye’s Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister and COP31 President Murat Kurum said the electrification goal would be one of the defining priorities of the Antalya summit.

The initiative comes at a time of heightened volatility in global energy markets, driven in part by tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil and gas shipments. Kurum said expanding electrification across transport, buildings and industry could help shield households and businesses from fluctuating fossil fuel prices and supply disruptions.

Thousands of negotiators are gathering in Bonn over two weeks of talks that will help shape the decisions to be taken by world leaders at COP31, scheduled for Nov. 9-20 in the southern Turkish resort city of Antalya.

“Thirty-five percent by 2035” will be a key priority of the COP31 presidency, Kurum said, adding that Türkiye would work to build a broad international coalition to support the target ahead of the summit.

The target is voluntary and does not require the approval of the nearly 200 nations that take decisions by consensus during the hard-fought U.N.-sponsored climate summits.

Australia, which is steering the formal negotiations in a COP31 co-hosting arrangement with Türkiye, said electrification could cut emissions and shore up energy security.

“I see them as different sides of the same coin. Electrification reduces the need for fossil fuels,” COP31 negotiations chief Chris Bowen, who is also Australia’s climate and energy minister, told AFP in an interview in Bonn on June 8.

On June 9, Bowen said he would “take inspiration” from Türkiye’s action agenda — which also includes initiatives to reduce planet-warming methane emissions from waste — into the negotiations.
Beyond electrification, Türkiye is proposing two additional global targets for COP31: Halving the growth of global waste by 2035 and improving energy efficiency in buildings by at least 25 percent.

On the sidelines of the Bonn talks, Kurum met with Bowen, U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Simon Stiell and COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago to discuss preparations for COP31, areas of international cooperation and how the Bonn negotiations can contribute to decision-making in Antalya.

Kurum and Stiell signed the COP31 Host Country Agreement on June 9, formally confirming Türkiye’s role as host of the summit. Following the signing ceremony, Kurum said cooperation between Türkiye and the U.N. climate secretariat would continue to deepen in the run-up to the conference.

During his visit, the minister also held consultations with a wide range of negotiating blocs, including the African Group, the Alliance of Small Island States, the Latin America and Caribbean Group, the Arab Group and the Umbrella Group. He said Türkiye was committed to ensuring an inclusive COP31 process in which “no one is left behind.”