World Leaders to Outline Climate Priorities at COP31 as Talks Focus on Electrification and Fossil Fuels

World leaders will outline their climate priorities in speeches at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, on Wednesday, as negotiators work towards an agreement to increase electricity’s share of global energy consumption and revive efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Delegates from nearly 200 countries have gathered in the Mediterranean resort city amid persistently high greenhouse gas emissions and competing global challenges, including wars, inflation and economic uncertainty.

A United Nations report released last month warned that the world is on course to exceed the 1.5°C warming threshold set under the 2015 Paris Agreement, raising concerns about the growing risks of climate change.

Former French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, who chaired the 2015 Paris climate conference and heads an advisory council of former COP presidents, said speeches by world leaders could provide political momentum to the negotiations.

“It is an opportunity for leaders to make some announcements, and more this time, to explain how they will implement, because the key word in Antalya is implementation,” he told Reuters.

According to the COP31 schedule, speeches by dozens of world leaders, including presidents and heads of government, will begin on Wednesday afternoon and continue throughout Thursday.

Wednesday’s speakers are expected to include Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose country hosted the previous climate summit, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine.

The United States, historically the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, is absent from the talks for the second consecutive year. President Donald Trump withdrew the country from international climate cooperation after returning to office in 2025 and has repeatedly dismissed concerns about global warming.

Electrification Takes Centre Stage

Türkiye, the host of COP31, is encouraging governments to make electrification a central element of the final agreement. However, critics argue that increasing electricity consumption alone may not deliver substantial emissions reductions unless it is accompanied by a shift towards cleaner energy sources.

The proposal seeks to increase electricity’s share of total global energy consumption to 35% by 2035, from just over 20% currently. Greater electrification could help reduce emissions from transport, industry and buildings, provided that electricity is increasingly generated from low-carbon sources.

However, the proposal does not explicitly require new electricity generation to come from clean energy, while governments have yet to agree on a broader strategy for moving away from coal, oil and natural gas.

Addressing the conference on Tuesday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged countries to establish clear timelines for phasing out fossil fuels.

“It is long past time to stop treating the transition away from fossil fuels as taboo or intractable,” he said.

Renewed Push for a Fossil Fuel Transition

The previous COP summit in Brazil failed to secure consensus on establishing a global plan to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Nevertheless, Brazil’s COP presidency has recently released a roadmap intended to keep the issue central to international climate discussions. The proposal calls on countries to assess and plan their energy systems by 2028, followed by coordinated efforts to reduce fossil fuel supply beginning in 2031.

As negotiations continue in Antalya, the central challenge for governments will be to translate climate commitments into practical measures, balancing the expansion of electricity use with the need to accelerate the transition towards cleaner energy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.