Turkey Launches 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge at COP31
The United Nations COP31 climate conference opened on Monday in Antalya, Turkiye, where the host nation is placing electrification at the center of its agenda, Al Jazeera reported.
Ankara launched the non-binding 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge. The initiative aims to make electricity account for at least 35 percent of global energy demand by 2035.
Electricity currently accounts for about one-fifth of global total final energy consumption, according to the International Energy Agency.
📍 Join us at the Global Renewables Hub, opening this afternoon at #COP31Türkiye! Co-hosted by @IRENA & the Global Renewables Alliance, the Hub will highlight efforts towards accelerating #renewables-based electrification through grids expansion and modernisation in support of… pic.twitter.com/tOxYqdW96r
COP31 President and Turkiye’s Environment Minister Murat Kurum tied the push directly to recent market disruptions. This year’s energy crisis has shocked us… everyone now understands that energy that you import is energy that you do not control,
Kurum said on Thursday, as reported by Al Jazeera.
Kurum added that electrification protects communities from volatile global markets and cuts emissions. The conference takes place against the backdrop of the US-led war on Iran, which has driven up global fuel prices and disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
🔴 IRENA at #COP31Türkiye Next week at the Global Renewables Hub co-hosted with Global Renewables Alliance, @IRENA will spotlight pathways to accelerate #Renewables-based electrification in support of the @turkiyecop31 Presidency’s 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge. Other… pic.twitter.com/TbAQWXDcsy
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar outlined a broader National Energy Plan 2040, targeting up to $500 billion in investment, Daily Sabah reported. Bayraktar stated that Turkiye aims to reach 36 percent electrification by 2040.
Climate advocates have criticized the 35-by-35 target. Greenpeace Turkey energy campaigner Emel Turker Alpay warned that the pledge does not require additional electricity to come from clean sources.
What electrification should do is end the dependency on fossil fuels.
Al-Monitor reported that Turkiye derived a third of its electricity from coal, with plans to expand existing coal-fired power plants. Meanwhile, a KONDA Research and Consultancy survey cited by IntelliNews found that 90 percent of people in Turkiye were unaware their country was hosting COP31.
Türkiye's COP31 Presidency is preparing the 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge, aiming to increase electricity's share of global final energy consumption to 35% by 2035, compared with approximately 23.4% in 2025. Electrification is becoming a central global energy-security…