Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum spoke at the International Energy Agency’s High-Level Energy Transition Dialogue, held in the UN Trusteeship Council Chamber during the week of the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
At the meeting, which was also attended by Emine Erdoğan and moderated by International Energy Agency President Fatih Birol, Kurum addressed participants as president of COP31. He said global targets for the clean energy transition had largely been established, adding that the priority was to turn these targets into practical results in countries’ energy systems, investments and economies.
Electrification target
Kurum said they viewed electrification as one of the key areas of implementation for the COP31 presidency. He said raising electricity’s share of global final energy consumption to 35% by 2035 provided a common direction.
Kurum said achieving this target would require not only more clean electricity but also strong power grids, storage capacity and flexible systems. He added that investment needed to be increased to accelerate electrification in transport, industry and buildings.
Kurum stressed that expanding access to energy and meeting the growing development needs of developing countries were also integral parts of the energy transition. Noting that countries differed in their access to financing and infrastructure capacity, he said an implementation framework should be established that preserved common goals while allowing each country to develop pathways suited to its own circumstances.
Call for joint work ahead of COP31
Kurum said the COP31 Electrification Pledge had strengthened political will around the 2035 target and called on countries to accelerate their policies and investments. He said he welcomed the publication of the Special Report on Electrification, prepared under the strategic partnership between the COP31 presidency and the International Energy Agency, adding that the report provided an analytical basis for policymaking and implementation.
Kurum said that ahead of COP31 in Antalya, the 35% target for 2035, the Electrification Pledge, the Global Electrification Initiative and the International Energy Agency’s Special Report on Electrification formed a common framework. He said grid and storage investments needed to be accelerated, financing directed toward viable projects and developing countries’ access to energy strengthened.
Views from different countries and organizations shared at meeting
At the meeting, which lasted more than two hours, views were shared by Australia’s Assistant Minister and COP31 Executive Director Kushla Munro, UN Deputy Secretary-General and UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Climate Selwin Hart, ministers and deputy ministers from various countries, and representatives of international organizations.
In his closing remarks, Kurum said the challenges facing electrification and potential solutions had been assessed through the experiences of different countries and organizations. He said the gap between global targets and countries’ implementation capacity needed to be narrowed. He added that the experiences and proposals shared at the meeting would be incorporated into COP31 preparations and that areas capable of developing into concrete projects and cooperation would be assessed with partners.
Kurum said work would continue with countries, international organizations, financial institutions and the private sector. He added that analysis needed to be turned into policy, policy into investment, and investment into results that produced an impact on the ground.
COP31, under Türkiye’s presidency, will be held at the Expo Center in Antalya from Nov. 9 to 20, 2026.
