“Solar energy doesn’t travel through Hormuz”: COP31 eyes renewables-backed electrification

Ahead of COP31 in November, UN-convened meetings in Germany this week offered an opportunity for the Australia – Türkiye presidency to reflect on a range of conference priorities.

Australia and Türkiye have partnered for the COP31 presidency with the former leading negotiations and the latter hosting the conference in Anatalya as president-designate.

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Speaking at the event, Turkish environment minister Murat Kurum unveiled an electrification target linked to COP31. “We aim to accelerate the clean energy transition by raising the global electrification rate to 35 percent”, he outlined.

The electrification target would raise the share of final energy demand served through electricity from current levels of 20% to the proposed 35%. Minister Kurum presented wider action agenda for COP31 spanning waste reduction, circular economy and green industrialisation.

In his address, Australia’s energy and climate change minister Chris Bowen stressed the role of energy security in energy transitions.

Referring to the backdrop of the war in Iran, Bowen warned, “crises like this, in a highly contested and uncertain geopolitical environment, will get more frequent, not less. More unpredictable, not less. Worse, not better”.

COP31, he noted, would serve as a timely opportunity to accelerate energy transitions on energy security grounds.

“Solar energy must travel 150 million kilometres from the sun to the earth, but it does not have to travel the 150 kilometres through the Strait of Hormuz”, he said, “The wind cannot be sanctioned. Hydro energy cannot be blockaded”.

Minister Bowen went on to outline that electrification, backed by grids and energy storage has emerged as a priority for COP31. Commenting on Australia’s experience in deploying renewable energy, he highlighted the role of affordability in driving energy transitions.

“Renewable energy is now the cheapest form of power available to us. In Australia, we have so much solar energy that we will soon be offering households three hours of free power in the middle of the day”, the minister said in his speech.

The upcoming COP31, he said would serve as an opportunity to communicate to investors, a revamped collective commitment to reduce fossil fuel dependence.

“We have to send a message to investors”, Bowen told the audience, “that we are collectively committed to the task of decarbonising, building renewable energy and reducing fossil fuel reliance”.

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