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Türkiye's COP31 push: Antalya summit aims to lift global electrification to 35% by 2035
With the U.N. climate conference opening in Antalya on Nov. 9, Türkiye's COP31 presidency is pressing for a global pledge to raise electricity's share of energy use from about 22% to 35% by 2035, as organizers unveil a 582,000-square-meter Green Zone and a visitor app.
Türkiye is heading into the U.N. climate conference it will host in Antalya from Nov. 9 to 20 with a headline goal: a worldwide commitment to raise electricity's share of global energy consumption from roughly 22% today to 35% by 2035. Türkiye holds the COP31 presidency, while Australia will lead the negotiations at a summit organizers are billing as an "implementation COP" focused on turning climate pledges into measurable action.
Electrification means meeting more energy needs with power instead of fossil fuels, from electric cars and heat pumps to electric cooking and industrial processes. According to International Energy Agency and Ember figures compiled by Anadolu Agency, electricity made up 21.6% of global final energy use at the end of 2024 and 22% in the United States, compared with about 30% in China, 30.6% in Japan and 49% in Norway. Türkiye stood at 21.5%.
'Ambitious but achievable'
Dave Jones, chief analyst at the energy think tank Ember, called the 35% target ambitious but achievable and noted that, by IEA estimates, reaching it could cut fossil fuel import bills for importing countries by $400 billion a year. IEA energy analyst Alex Martinos said hitting the goal would roughly double the pace of electricity demand growth seen over the past decade and would require annual investment in industry, transport and buildings to climb from about $320 billion today to around $1 trillion.
A 1.1 million-square-meter venue
COP31 President Murat Kurum, Türkiye's environment minister, shared images of the summit's public Green Zone, calling it "Türkiye's face to the world" and inviting citizens to visit. The 582,000-square-meter Green Zone and the 527,000-square-meter Blue Zone, where negotiations take place, together cover about 1.1 million square meters. Thematic hubs will cover zero waste, climate finance, energy and transport, resilient cities, green industrialization and start-ups, alongside concerts, exhibitions and talks.
Visitors will be able to navigate it all through the free "COP31 Türkiye Super App," which offers an event calendar of more than 600 sessions, a personal agenda, food locations and on-site navigation.
A warning from the Mediterranean
Ahead of the talks, the COP31 presidency released the Mediterranean episode of its documentary series "The Heat Is Coming," which warns that the sea is warming faster than many other regions, with rising temperatures and shifting rainfall threatening ecosystems and livelihoods across the basin.
Telecom operator Turkcell has signed on as a COP31 sector partner and master implementation partner of COPArt, the conference's official art program. Antalya will also showcase its nomadic Yörük heritage in a renovated two-story house where visitors can taste gözleme and bazlama flatbreads. Program details are available on the official COP31 website, cop31.tr.
Photo: Anadolu. Videos: TRT Haber, COP31 Türkiye
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