A global target, a global mandate: ARE backs new renewable electrification goal
23 June 2026, Brussels
The Alliance for Renewable Electrification (ARE) welcomes a landmark global electrification target announced by COP31 President-Designate Murat Kurum, calling for electricity’s share of final energy demand to rise from just over 20% today to 35% by 2035.
This is a major policy win and one that reflects months of collective advocacy. ARE is proud to be part of the #ElectrifyNow campaign, a growing coalition of leading renewable energy advocates pushing for a dedicated global electrification target alongside renewable energy and energy efficiency goals.
Today, the COP31 Presidency answered that call. This is also a signal from governments and businesses around the world that renewable electrification, across the board, is the right path to securing cheap, abundant, reliable and homegrown energy.
For ARE, which turbocharges renewable electrification across emerging countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America & The Caribbean, this announcement validates both the urgency and the opportunity of powering people and businesses. Over 666 million people remain without electricity today, and 18 of the 20 countries with the largest electricity access deficits are in sub-Saharan Africa. Businesses across emerging markets are held back too — stunted by chronic outages and often forced to depend on costly, polluting diesel generators that expose them to oil price volatility and pollution. Power is also the starting point for any business: without it, enterprises cannot start, grow, or drive the sustainable economic development their communities need. It is precisely in these markets that the opportunity to leapfrog to a renewable electrification economy is greatest.
A global target means little without global delivery. Reaching 35% by 2035 demands a massive acceleration in investment, infrastructure build-out, and private sector mobilisation — particularly in developing countries, where the need is most acute and the opportunity is largest.
Therefore, ARE joins #ElectrifyNow in calling for faster action to put electrification at the centre of energy policy and accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels — and stands ready, with its members, to translate this target into power on the ground, project by project, grid by grid, community by community, uniting power for people, for industry, and for entire countries.
We call on governments, development finance institutions, institutional and private investors, and other international funding partners to align their resources and policies behind this goal, ensuring the energy transition is truly global and leaves no country, and no market, behind. ARE and its Members look forward to pushing for the full securing of this target at COP31 Türkiye.
“A target without finance is just a number. But a target with the world’s attention behind it, that is a catalyst. With over 666 million people still without electricity and the urgent need to power businesses and industry in emerging markets, the case for rapid and scaled-up action could not be clearer. ARE and its Members are ready to deliver. We call on every government, every development bank, and every private investor to match this ambition with adequate capital and a relentless focus on execution.” — David Lecoque, CEO, Alliance for Renewable Electrification
The advocacy has already begun, and with the COP31 Presidency now lending its full weight to this target, the path ahead looks brighter than ever. We applaud the Presidency for this bold commitment and look forward, with renewed determination, to the road ahead — all the way to COP32 in Ethiopia.
