The head of the COP31 negotiations links accelerating electrification to energy security and reducing emissions

Australian Minister of Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, called for accelerating the transition towards clean electrification, and raising its share of total global final energy consumption from about 20 percent currently to 35 percent by 2035, considering that this transformation is not limited to reducing emissions; Rather, it enhances energy security and protects families from price fluctuations.

Bowen, who is leading negotiations at the Thirty-First Conference of the Parties (COP31), said in his speech during the opening of the conference in Antalya, Turkey, on Monday, that “accelerating electrification, supported by clean and flexible energy systems, is the key to correcting the course,” adding that the world needs to raise the share of electricity from about one-fifth to one-third of total energy consumption.

He pointed out that the conference's climate action agenda aims to raise the share of electricity in final energy consumption to 35 percent by 2035, explaining that achieving this goal requires investments in renewable energy. The Australian minister linked the expansion of electricity use to enhancing countries' energy security, reducing emissions, and reducing families' exposure to fluctuations in energy bills and price shocks.

He added, “This is not only good for our planet; “It enhances countries’ energy security, reduces emissions, and helps better protect families from bill fluctuations and price shocks.”

In his assessment of the climate action pathway, Bowen said the latest science suggests the world will cross the 1.5°C threshold above pre-industrial levels, but stressed that a return to the target path is still possible if countries act jointly and urgently.

He said, “The challenge before us during the next two weeks is to work together to confront challenges and seize opportunities,” calling on the participating parties to accelerate climate action, facilitate access to financing, fulfill pledges, and enhance the ability of societies, economies, and oceans to withstand the effects of climate change.

Bowen reviewed indicators that he said reflect progress in efforts to limit warming, explaining that previous expectations of the Paris Agreement indicated a rise in global temperature of about 4 degrees Celsius, while current estimates are close to 2.6 degrees. He also pointed out that global electricity production from renewable energy sources has nearly doubled since 2015.

He added that global investments in clean energy amounted to $2.2 trillion during the past year. That is, nearly double the investments directed to fossil fuels, considering that these indicators enhance confidence in the ability of international efforts to transform pledges into tangible results.

In the financing file, Bowen conveyed the demands of participating countries to facilitate access to climate finance, accelerate the fulfillment of commitments, and enhance the ability of countries and communities most vulnerable to the repercussions of climate change to confront them.

He said that the message that emerged from the preparatory meetings in the Pacific, hosted by Fiji and Tuvalu, was the need to keep the 1.5 degree Celsius goal within reach of the world, accelerate climate action, facilitate access to financing, and ensure that no country faces the effects of climate change alone.

He pointed out that the effects of climate change are no longer future expectations; Rather, it has become a reality for billions of people, citing the collapse of glaciers in Nepal, deaths resulting from heat waves in Europe, and the increasing severity of the El Niño phenomenon.

He warned that every delay in action increases the risks to lives, communities, economic growth and the environment, raises the cost of adapting to climate change, and deepens future burdens.

Türkiye is hosting and chairing COP 31, while Australia is leading the negotiations, under a joint arrangement that came after a previous dispute between the two countries over hosting the conference. The conference runs from November 9 to 20, amid efforts to transform previous climate pledges into practical measures.

In his speech, Bowen praised the partnership between Türkiye and Australia, and Turkish preparations to host the conference, calling on countries to participate in a spirit of cooperation, respect, and focus on core issues.

The goal of raising the share of electricity to 35 percent by 2035 comes within the “35 by 2035” initiative presented by the Turkish presidency of the conference, which is a voluntary initiative aimed at accelerating the shift towards the use of electricity in the transportation, buildings and industry sectors, in parallel with the expansion of renewable energy and the development of networks and storage systems.

This transformation gains importance in light of the continued dependence of large sectors of the global economy on burning fossil fuels directly, instead of using electricity, especially in transportation, industry, and heating. However, achieving climate gains from electrification is also linked to the sources of electricity production; Its environmental impacts vary depending on countries’ reliance on renewable energy sources or fossil fuels.

The negotiations in Antalya face the challenge of reconciling accelerating the transition to clean energy, ensuring security of supply, and providing the necessary financing to developing countries, at a time when pressure is increasing on governments to provide implementable measures instead of simply announcing new goals.

The Secretary-General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Haitham Al-Ghais, believed that the future of energy will not be limited to the era of electricity, but rather will depend on the integration of all energy sources, stressing that the expansion of the electrification of economies will increase, in parallel, the need for oil and its derivative products, whether in manufacturing devices and equipment or building electricity networks and renewable energy technologies.

Al-Ghais said, in an opinion article published by Anadolu Agency on Monday, coinciding with the work of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 31), that in the coming decades the world will need more electricity, but it will also need larger quantities of most other energy sources, warning against focusing on one source and ignoring the roles played by the rest of the sources in the energy system.

He added that the increasing talk about the “age of electricity” does not fully reflect the nature of the ongoing transformation, considering that the next stage should be the “age of all energy sources,” referring to the interconnection between different energy sources and their dependence on each other.

Al-Ghais reviewed four aspects that he said do not receive sufficient attention in discussions related to expanding the use of electricity. He explained that the electrification of more sectors requires the manufacture of larger quantities of devices and equipment, which imposes an additional demand on global supply chains and transportation operations, which still depend largely on means of transportation powered by petroleum fuel.

He pointed out that this expansion will also increase the need for cables, chargers, and electricity connection components, which are products that use plastic and oil-derived materials in their manufacture. He pointed out that a medium-sized electric car may contain about 45 percent more plastic and composite materials than its gasoline or diesel counterpart of the same size.

In this context, he said that the petrochemical requirements for electric transformation do not receive sufficient attention, pointing to other challenges facing the spread of electric cars, including the availability of vital minerals, public charging capabilities, subsidies, and market conditions affecting manufacturers and consumers.

On the third point, Al-Ghais stressed that oil and its derivatives are used in the manufacture, maintenance and installation of electricity networks, including cables, transmission lines, towers, transformers, substations and control systems, adding that the expansion of laying high-voltage marine cables will increase the demand for specialized types of plastics and polymers.

The fourth aspect relates to the use of oil-derived products in the manufacture of electricity generation technologies, including renewable energy sources. He stated that materials derived from petroleum, such as fiberglass, resins and plastics, constitute on average about 15 percent of the weight of wind turbines, while plastic represents about 10 percent of the weight of traditional solar panels made of crystalline silicon.

The Secretary-General of OPEC stressed that energy sources do not operate in isolation from each other, and the growth of one should not be viewed at the expense of the other, considering that all sources will be required to meet the increase in global demand for energy, reduce energy poverty that still affects billions of people, and enhance security of supplies.

Al-Ghais concluded his article by emphasizing the importance of recognizing the interconnectedness between energy sources rather than dividing the future of the sector into stages linked to a specific source.

The National Infrastructure Fund and Humane Company, one of the Public Investment Fund companies specialized in providing integrated solutions and capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence, signed two financing agreements with a total value of up to 2.5 billion riyals ($667 million), to support the provision of artificial intelligence computing capabilities and the development of the vital energy infrastructure needed for data centers in the Kingdom.

The two agreements were signed in Riyadh, on Sunday, in the presence of the Governor of the Public Investment Fund, Yasser Al-Rumayyan, the Minister of Economy and Planning, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Infrastructure Fund, Faisal Al-Ibrahim, and the Governor of the National Development Fund, Abdul Aziz Al-Arifi.

The two agreements are the first financing deals within the Artificial Intelligence Data Centers Financing Program of the National Infrastructure Fund, and they represent the first phase of implementing the strategic framework agreement for financing, which the Fund and Humane announced in Davos, during January 2026, with non-binding financing terms amounting to 4.5 billion riyals ($1.2 billion). With the aim of supporting artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure projects in the Kingdom.

The value of the first financing facility, allocated to finance graphic processing units, is about 1.1 billion riyals ($293.3 million), to support the purchase and provision of graphic processing units (GPUs) with an information technology load capacity of approximately 25 megawatts.

On the other hand, the value of the second financing facility reaches 1.4 billion riyals ($373.3 million), and aims to develop the vital energy infrastructure necessary for Humane’s artificial intelligence data centers in the Kingdom, including conversion stations, energy transmission infrastructure, and facilities for connecting to the electrical grid.

This infrastructure is designed to support the future expansion of data centers with IT loads of up to one gigawatt, creating an attractive investment environment for data center developers, hyperscale computing infrastructure operators and institutional investors.

The CEO of the National Infrastructure Fund, Eng. Ismail Al-Salloum, said that the two agreements aim to stimulate investments that exceed the amount of financing provided by the Fund, noting that supporting Humain’s computing capabilities, in parallel with developing the vital energy infrastructure necessary for it, will contribute to preparing more data center projects for investment.

He added that the role of the Fund is to raise the readiness of these projects and enhance their ability to be financed, based on the commercial feasibility and economic value that guide financing decisions, indicating that the partnership embodies a model that links the Fund’s priorities with an investment methodology with commercial foundations, which contributes to the development of a financing market capable of attracting a broader base of private and institutional capital, and supporting the sustainable growth of the local artificial intelligence infrastructure.

For his part, CEO of Humane, Eng. Tariq Amin, said that the artificial intelligence infrastructure has become an essential foundation for the next generation of computing technologies, and that expanding it requires large investments and an infrastructure capable of keeping pace with growth.

He added that the two agreements with the National Infrastructure Fund will contribute to accelerating the provision of advanced computing capabilities and the development of the energy infrastructure necessary to support them, explaining that “Humin” focuses on developing artificial intelligence infrastructure and operating it on a large scale, in addition to developing technologies and platforms that enable institutions and customers around the world to employ artificial intelligence and benefit from its potential.