Türkiye and Australia are consulting delegates on how to address electrification in a COP31 decision, as the summit presidency seeks to increase electricity’s share of global energy use by 2035.
Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen, who leads the summit’s formal negotiations, described the talks at a joint news conference in Antalya on Nov. 10. The presidency wants electricity to account for 35% of global final energy use by 2035, up from about 23% now. Bowen said reaching that goal would require more than four times the current pace of electrification.
Delegates are still discussing how electrification should appear in the conference’s final decision. Türkiye hosts COP31 and directs its action agenda, while Australia leads formal negotiations under an arrangement between the two governments. Bowen said their summit teams were “fully integrated.”
COP31 President Murat Kurum linked the electricity goal to the risks faced by countries that import fuel. He said price swings and supply disruptions leave those countries exposed, and that cheaper electric technologies could reduce that exposure.
Bowen also cited climate impacts in countries that had not expected to face them and pressure on power grids from artificial intelligence. U.N. Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said progress toward cleaner energy varies among countries and called for more support for those making the shift.
Separately, Bowen and Kurum have agreed to seek a presidency-initiated, party-led decision to accelerate climate action. That broader measure remains a proposal, distinct from the discussion of electrification in a final conference decision. Bowen said he expected differing views on whether the proposal was worthwhile, what it should contain and how ambitious it should be.
World leaders are scheduled to meet in Antalya on Nov. 11-12. COP31 runs through Nov. 20.
