COP31 : l’UE soutiendra l’objectif d’électrification

The European Union plans to bolster the global electrification target during the United Nations climate conference, COP31, according to three diplomats speaking to POLITICO. Member states had been divided on backing a voluntary goal proposed by the hosts, Turkey and Australia, to increase the share of electricity in global energy consumption to 35% by 2035, up from the current 20%.

While the diplomats revealed that the 27 EU members have now reached consensus to support this commitment, a few countries were still hesitant. Some expressed concerns that the commitment did not specify the electricity used to achieve the goal should be "clean" rather than generated from fossil fuels, while others did not want to commit to a new target before national energy policy discussions within the EU were concluded.

At COP31, countries pushing for climate policies hope to link electrification efforts to clean energy to move towards phasing out harmful fossil fuels. However, some governments prefer to keep the door open to meet the growing electricity demand through coal and gas. The commitment text, initially disclosed by the COP31 organizers in September, did not mention clean energy.

This story was first published by POLITICO in English and then republished in French by Alexandre Léchenet.