COP31 President-Designate Murat Kurum has called for a “truly global conversation” on electrification, describing it as a central pillar in accelerating climate action and achieving global decarbonization goals.
Delivering the opening keynote at the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial on Tuesday, Kurum emphasized that electricity currently accounts for only around 20 percent of global final energy consumption and stressed the urgent need to increase that share significantly through cleaner and more accessible technologies.
“We want to start a global conversation about electrification,” Kurum said, urging countries, institutions, and stakeholders to work collectively to expand electrification across all sectors while ensuring that “no one is left behind.”
He highlighted the COP31 Presidency’s Action Agenda priorities, including clean energy, clean cooking, resilient cities, and industrial decarbonization, as key platforms for driving tangible progress. Kurum said the presidency is already collaborating with major international partners such as the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, and the Global Renewables Alliance.
Referring to recent climate discussions held in Berlin, Paris, Santa Marta, and Baku, Kurum noted that electrification has consistently emerged as a major theme in global climate dialogue.
The COP31 President-Designate also underscored the importance of maintaining strong links between national climate roadmaps and the United Nations climate framework. He reiterated that Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), Biennial Transparency Reports, and National Adaptation Plans remain essential tools for collective climate action under the Paris Agreement.
Kurum further called on governments and stakeholders to support the financing of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, saying the institution plays a critical role in guiding global climate policy.
Addressing climate finance, he acknowledged that funding remains one of the biggest barriers to turning climate ambition into implementation, particularly for developing countries. He pledged that the COP31 Presidency would push to scale up climate finance through initiatives including the Global Implementation Accelerator and the Baku-to-Belém Roadmap.
“We will hold donors accountable for the commitments they made under the 300-billion-dollar Baku Finance Goal,” he stated.
Kurum also stressed the need for concessional and grant-based public financing to support adaptation, resilience-building, and responses to climate-related loss and damage in vulnerable economies. He announced plans to work toward tripling funding from UN climate funds by 2030 and highlighted the importance of replenishing the Green Climate Fund this year.
In addition, he emphasized a strong focus on oceans and coastal communities, noting that for billions of people worldwide, oceans are directly tied to food security, livelihoods, identity, and safety.
Concluding his address, Kurum said global climate action must move beyond promises and toward concrete implementation.
“It is easy to say we support global climate action. But promises must be kept,” he said before handing over the session to Australian Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen.
