Climate Action Network International (CAN) has called on governments to ensure that the COP31 “35-by-35” electrification target is powered by sustainable renewable energy rather than nuclear power or fossil fuels.
The call came after the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its new special report, Electrification, prepared at the request of Türkiye and Australia through their strategic partnership with the COP31 Presidency.
The IEA report outlines several possible pathways for meeting rapidly rising electricity demand. In its pathway aligned with net-zero emissions by 2050, it projects a significant expansion of nuclear power, with annual nuclear capacity additions potentially increasing from around 3 GW currently to more than 40 GW by 2035.
The report also presents a stated-policies scenario in which gas-fired power generation could increase by around 2,000 TWh by 2035.
During New York Climate Week, Türkiye introduced the “35-by-35” electrification target as part of the COP31 Action Agenda. CAN International said the target should not be assessed solely by the amount of energy converted from direct fossil-fuel use to electricity. It argued that the source of electricity, access to energy, ownership of infrastructure and the social impacts of the transition should also be considered.
“The 35-by-35 target will only represent climate progress if it is powered by sustainable renewable energy—and that’s not nuclear or fossil fuels,” said Janet Milongo, Energy Transition Lead at CAN International.
“Success cannot be measured simply by how much of the world’s final energy consumption becomes electric. We must ask what generates that electricity, who has access to it, who owns the infrastructure, and whether it is helping communities transition away from fossil fuels,” she said.
CAN International also stressed the importance of energy sovereignty, calling for international cooperation and investment to strengthen domestic capabilities and resilient, public-interest energy systems rather than create new dependencies on foreign governments or multinational corporations.
The organization acknowledged that electrification alone would not be sufficient to meet climate targets and that the source of additional electricity would have major implications for emissions.
It called for rising electricity demand to be met through the rapid and equitable expansion of sustainable renewable energy, supported by energy efficiency, energy sufficiency, battery and other storage technologies, and appropriate grid infrastructure.
CAN International further urged governments to direct public resources and policy support toward renewable energy and other rapidly deployable solutions, while cautioning against continued dependence on coal, oil and gas and what it described as costly, risky and slow-to-deploy nuclear projects.
