COP31 Presidency opens London Climate Action Week with call to accelerate electrification

The COP31 President-Designate, H.E. Murat Kurum, has today participated in the Climate Innovation Forum, the opening flagship event of London Climate Action Week. In his remarks, he highlighted the COP31 Presidency’s aim to build a broad coalition of support for its Action Agenda targets and initiatives, including its global "35x35” target, aimed at accelerating the electrification of sectors such as transportation, buildings, and industry.

Referencing these targets and initiatives, he said, "Here in London, we want to widen participation to include more businesses, institutions, NGOs, and charities, and by the end of the week, we want to have secured more support for our objectives and targets.”

COP31 President-Designate: "By the end of the week, we want to have secured more support for our objectives and targets. This is needed so that everyone comes to COP31 in Antalya prepared and ready to make the global summit a success.”

COP31 President-Designate Murat Kurum today opened London Climate Action Week with a call for governments and businesses to accelerate the electrification of the global economy, reduce waste, and deliver on climate finance commitments to reach the targets of the Paris Agreement.

Speaking at the Climate Innovation Forum at the start of London Climate Action Week (LCAW), Mr. Kurum said that electrification must become a central pillar of the global response to both climate change and the energy-affordability crisis. He noted that it was essential to help households and businesses reduce their exposure to volatile prices.

"This issue is being discussed today in government cabinets and in company boardrooms,” he said, "because accelerating electrification in daily life is an urgent need to protect countries, businesses, and families from fluctuating energy prices.”

The COP31 President, who also serves as Türkiye’s Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, recently proposed a global "35x35” target, aimed at accelerating the electrification of sectors such as transportation, buildings, and industry. This target demands that 35% of final energy consumption is met by electricity by 2035, up from just over 20% today.

This target sits alongside the COP31 Presidency’s other thematic priorities for the annual UN Climate Summit, COP31, which will be held in the Turkish resort city of Antalya in November. These include reducing waste, improving the circular economy, building resilient cities, delivering climate finance, and raising global climate literacy.

Discussing how electrification is emerging as a global priority, Mr. Kurum said: "We are delighted that the target is already supported by many countries, international organizations, and coalitions of the willing. This includes the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, and the Global Renewables Alliance.”

Describing the COP31 Presidency’s objectives for Climate Action Week, Mr. Kurum said, "Here in London, we want to widen participation to include more businesses, institutions, NGOs, and charities, and by the end of the week, we want to have secured more support for our objectives and targets. This is needed so that everyone comes to COP31 in Antalya prepared and ready to make the global summit a success.”

Mr. Kurum also emphasized the importance of meeting increased electricity demand from clean sources. "In COP28 in Dubai, the first Global Stocktake put forward that increasing electricity demand should come from clean energy supplies, because for a secure and sustainable energy future we need electrification and renewables and they have to move forward simultaneously,” he said.

Furthermore, he noted the need to create enabling conditions, particularly in the developing world, to accelerate progress and hit the COP31 targets. "In 2024, countries collectively agreed to mobilize at least 300 billion dollars every year by 2035 under the Baku Finance Goal,” he said. "For the success of this transformation, and to realize the goals of developing countries, they have to be able to access the finance they need. As the COP31 incoming Presidency, we will be working decisively to keep this on the agenda and we will call on all donor countries to provide their contributions.”

Throughout the week, the incoming COP31 Presidency will build support for its wider Action Agenda and deepen partnerships across the international climate community. This includes building support for 2035 targets of halving the increase in waste production, reducing energy consumption intensity in the building sector by at least 25 percent, and achieving a recycled materials usage rate of at least 15 percent in the production and manufacturing sector.

Key engagements will include:

• The international launch of the COP31 Business Forum, organized by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), which has been appointed as the COP31 Private Sector Envoy. The Forum will serve as a year-long platform to mobilize business engagement for the COP31 Business Summit in Antalya.
• The COP31–IEA High-Level Dialogue on the Energy Transition, where the COP31 Presidency and the IEA will bring countries together to build consensus on the global priorities for the energy transition. The Presidency has commissioned the IEA to prepare new analytical reports on electrification and waste management.
• The Global Energy Transition and Electrification Summit, which will bring together governments and senior leaders to advance support for the electrification target and broader clean energy transition.
• An audience with His Majesty King Charles III to discuss the preparations and priorities for the upcoming COP31 summit.

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