Sustainable Economics and Finance Association (SEFiA) is pleased to support a new global campaign to supercharge electrification powered by renewable energy, Electrify Now, launched at the Global Energy Transition and Electrification Summit at London Climate Week.
Director Bengisu Özenç said that the SEFiA had joined a new international movement comprising over 40 business groups, think tanks and civil society organisations, backed by governments including the EU, UK, Australia, Türkiye and Ethiopia, united by a shared mission to accelerate the rate and rollout of electrification, and fast-track our renewable, electric future.
“Our collective challenge is to catalyse global momentum and action towards increasing electrification of the world’s energy system from around 21% per cent today to 35% by 2035. This means moving four times faster than we are today,” said Özenç.
“There is clear and growing momentum from business and political leaders for the world to accelerate the electrification of our energy systems. As COP31 President-designate Minister Murat Kurum frequently emphasizes, current geopolitical tensions demonstrate that fossil fuels can no longer guarantee energy security. Therefore, accelerating renewables-based electrification stands out as a crucial strategy for national sovereignty and security of energy supply..”
Electrification means expanding electricity systems to meet a greater share of humanity’s needs, and replacing the use of fossil fuels with electrified transport, heating, cooling, cooking, and industrial processes. As countries seek to strengthen energy security, reduce costs, and cut emissions, electrification is one of the most effective solutions available.
Özenç also added: “The attitude of the Turkish business world toward electrification is even above the global average. 95% of the surveyed executives view transition to electricity as a fundamental element of energy supply security and competitiveness. Meanwhile, 93% foresee that they will electrify a significant portion of their operations by 2035. The fact that the COP31 Turkey Presidency’s target of 35% electrification by 2035, announced last week, is supported by high expectations from the business world is positive for the achievability of the target. Now, our expectation from the COP31 presidency and parties is the acceleration of infrastructure investments that will realize this electrification target, and the cleansing of the grid from fossil fuels so that it can serve climate goals.”
The Electrify Now campaign aims to make electrification a top priority for decision-makers worldwide as they build more secure, affordable, and sustainable energy systems for the future.
The campaign aims to galvanise stakeholders to take action and raise ambition, calling on governments to put electrification at the centre of their energy policies by working together to achieve 35% electrification by 2035 globally – a target supported by the best available science from the IEA and IRENA – and recently put forward by the COP31 incoming Presidency.
The campaign urges governments to:
- Translate the collective global ambition into action via national and sub-national action plans, policies and electrotech deployment.
- Match increasing electricity demand with continued investment in renewable energy, modernised and expanded electricity grids, and energy storage.
- Advance international cooperation, by exchanging experience through bilateral and multilateral meetings, leveraging coalitions of ambition around the energy transition and deploying technical assistance to support electrification planning capacity.
- Mobilise investment and financing at scale by using public finance to crowd in private capital, while ensuring international finance institutions systematically integrate electrification into energy, climate, crisis response, and capacity-building support.
