ANTALYA, Turkey — As world leaders arrive at the U.N. climate conference, the fate of the summit’s flagship pledge hangs in the balance. On Tuesday, the Turkish hosts held a ministerial meeting aimed at “showcasing early support” for their proposed target of raising electricity’s share of global energy consumption to 35% by 2035, an idea dubbed 35x35. Only a smattering of governments, however, have explicitly backed the goal so far.
Many major economies and big emitters have stayed mum. One diplomat from a developed country said that, for now, only a dozen nations were prepared to sign the pledge. The tepid endorsement comes as presidents and prime ministers fly into Antalya for the conference’s leaders’ summit on Wednesday and Thursday.
In the corridors, and occasionally in press conference rooms, negotiators voiced concerns about the pledge’s alignment with emissions-slashing efforts, the financial aid needed to implement the goal, and whether a brand-new target is necessary at all. So we call upon all parties … to provide financial support. So that we can move together.” Explicit endorsements were limited to a handful of developed countries, island nations and governments involved in hosting current or upcoming climate summits.
Fossil fuel producers such as Saudi Arabia, or big polluters such as China and India, remained silent. Germany, Norway and Ethiopia — which is hosting next year’s COP32 summit — were among the countries that publicly backed the pledge in the ministerial meeting. The European Union, though it still has a few bureaucratic boxes to tick, is poised to .
Others offered soft support for electrification as a theme or made clear that their backing was conditional. Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s climate minister, told POLITICO the pledge would need to clarify that the increase in electrification should be achieved only with renewable energy. We warmly welcome the focus of the COP presidency,” London’s Climate Minister Katie White said at the ministerial.
Then he highlighted Brazil’s use of biofuels, saying the combination of biofuels and electrification was the best way for Brazil to achieve the pledge. Spokespeople for the Turkish summit presidency did not respond to questions. The Australian co-hosts of COP31, who are leading the formal negotiations at the conference, said they were currently exploring how to include the electrification theme in the final decision text.
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