Turkish COP31 Presidency Announces 35% Global Electrification Target for 2035

The Turkish presidency of the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) set a target on June 19, 2026 to raise electricity's share to 35% of global final energy consumption by 2035, up from just over 20% today, at the close of the preparatory Bonn meeting (64th session of subsidiary bodies, SB64).

The Bonn meeting ran for two weeks in June 2026 and ended in broad deadlock: according to Carbon Brief, the target to triple adaptation finance for developing countries, agreed at COP30, was left in brackets in the negotiated text, and the goal of $300 billion per year in climate finance was deferred to COP31 in Istanbul under UN "rule 16." Against that backdrop of multiple deferred items, the Turkish presidency presented the electrification target as a substantive outcome of Bonn: raising electricity from 20% to 35% of global final energy consumption by 2035. For Mexico, the benchmark sets a long-term parameter, nearly doubling national electricity penetration within nine years.

A comparison with reference economies illustrates the scale of adjustment required. According to the International Energy Agency's Electricity Report 2025, electricity accounts for 22% of final energy consumption in the United States and 21% in the European Union; China has reached 28%, driven by accelerated industrial and vehicular electrification since 2020. Reaching 35% by 2035 requires simultaneous progress on renewable generation (installed capacity in gigawatts, GW), modernization of transmission and distribution networks within the National Electric System (SEN), and electricity penetration in transport, industry, and heating and cooling. In the context of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the country's electricity competitiveness directly affects its ability to attract high-value manufacturing investment.

COP31, scheduled for Istanbul in November 2026, will determine whether the 35% target is incorporated into each country's updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Progress on the Federal Electricity Commission's (CFE) renewable generation program and grid expansion by the National Energy Control Center (CENACE) will be the key indicators to monitor.

This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.