COP climate summits might yet have a useful future – here’s how

The COP31 climate summit, set to take place in Antalya, Turkey, may hold some potential for meaningful progress. Despite years of increasingly dire warnings from scientists and real-world climate disasters, these summits have been failing to deliver on their promises. The format has become predictable, with pomp and ceremony, followed by backroom negotiations and tense debates over finance and wording in the final agreement.

This cycle has been wearing thin, with many in attendance and millions more watching from afar recognizing that COP summits are no longer delivering the necessary progress. Rather than a meeting that will save the world, COP31 will likely follow the same format, with arguments over finance, disputes over wording, and the looming specter of climate peril.

However, there is one potential bright spot at the summit – an electrification pledge being championed by the Turkish presidency. This proposal calls for countries to increase electricity's share of final energy consumption to 35% to 2035. Electrification is seen as a strong climate weapon in the current climate, with high oil and gas prices, geopolitical instability, and the benefits of cheap green power.

Switching to electricity also offers energy security and cost-of-living relief, while being far more efficient than burning fuel. Globally, electricity currently accounts for about 23% of energy delivered to consumers, but it powers sectors that make up 46% of the global economy. Transitioning to a highly electrified state, powered by renewables, could lead to a 50% reduction in total primary energy use.

To truly make COP summits useful, they should become opportunities for countries to share best practices on the energy transition, rather than getting bogged down in arguments over virtue-signalling statements. Efforts are underway to redesign these meetings for the better, and the push for electrification could be the key to giving COP summits a useful future.