Delegates at the COP31 United Nations (UN) climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye, have set a voluntary aim for 35% of global energy use to be powered by electricity by 2035.
The commitment has become the main focus of this year’s conference, co-chaired by Australia and Türkiye, as officials acknowledge for the first time that the internationally-agreed target to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C will not be met.
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The summit opened with warnings from Australia’s Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, who described the event as coming “at a moment of consequence, whether it be glacial collapse in Nepal, heat deaths in Europe, or an intensifying El Niño”.
He told delegates: “Climate change is here. It is not a forecast. It is not a prediction. It is the lived reality for billions of people.”
Despite the summit’s emphasis on electrification, the issue of reducing fossil fuel consumption remains contentious and is not formally on the agenda.
This comes as UN climate change executive secretary Simon Stiell highlighted rising fuel costs, stating, “this year’s fossil fuel cost chaos has delivered a global shock wave, hitting households hard and spreading inflation like a cancer.”
He noted the economic and political fallout from recent conflicts and elections.
Australia, a major coal exporter, has drawn criticism, particularly from Pacific nations, for continued coal mine expansions and the ongoing North West Shelf gas project.
Türkiye, which is hosting the event, is also under scrutiny; 55% of its electricity is produced from coal and natural gas, making it Europe’s largest coal power generator.
The 35% electrification target, which remains voluntary, comes as electricity currently accounts for 23% of global energy usage.
The International Energy Agency forecasts this share to rise to 30% by 2035 under current policies.
The summit’s strategy is to focus on implementing existing agreements, rather than introducing more ambitious targets.
Financial support for developing countries, as well as efforts to cut methane emissions, particularly in the gas, oil, and waste sectors, are expected to be high priorities in Antalya.
Climate Council member and economist Nicki Hutley stated that a global push for electrification is “exactly what Australian households need from this summit”.
The summit in Antalya comes 11 years after the Paris Agreement, which set the 1.5°C ceiling.
The current meeting marks the first major international concession that the target will not be achieved.
