Eighty percent. That is the share of global energy still supplied by oil, gas, and coal — a figure that has barely shifted in a generation, despite three decades of climate summits and thousands of pledged targets. Yet researchers believe a single systemic shift could strike at the heart of that dependence: replacing combustion with electricity across transport, heating, cooling, and heavy industry. Because electrical systems convert energy far more efficiently than burning fuels, one analysis suggests that a fully electrified world economy could cut total energy demand in half, saving consumers and businesses hundreds of billions of dollars in the process.

For years, electrification sat at the quiet margins of climate policy, treated as a technical footnote rather than a strategic priority. That changed in Bonn this month, where two weeks of preparatory talks ahead of the UN COP31 summit in November elevated the subject to centre stage. Turkey's environment minister, Murat Kurum, who will co-host the summit alongside Australia, told the Guardian that the transition is non-negotiable. "Without electrification, we won't be able to reach any of the targets of the Paris Agreement," he said.

Turkey and Australia have jointly proposed that 35% of all final energy should come from electricity by 2035, framing electrification as the single most important pillar of emissions reduction.