Can Cheap Batteries Deliver COP31’s 35% Electrification Goal?

Electrification will be the major focus of the upcoming COP31 United Nations climate conference, to be held in Antalya, Trkiye, from November 9 to 20, 2026. The host country will invite the attending nations to sign onto a voluntary pledge to reach 35 percent electrification on a global level by 2035. Just a year ago, this target may have seemed overly ambitious, but now, experts say that a number of factors, including volatile oil and gas markets stemming from the war in Iran, paired with enormous advances in clean energy technologies, have put that goal within "striking distance."

The months-long closure of the Strait of Hormuz has catalyzed the clean energy transition and the rate of electrification around the world.