EU climate chief hints bloc may drop clean power push at COP31

ANTALYA, Turkey — The EU climate chief has signaled the bloc is prepared to give up on a key clean energy demand at this year’s COP conference, in a bid to get more countries on board with an electrification push. A global agreement on accelerating electrification — by increasing electricity’s share in energy use — has been touted as a way to address both worsening climate change and soaring fuel prices resulting from the Iran war.

Countries at the COP31 climate summit in Antalya are currently debating whether they can reach a consensus on the issue in the conference’s final decision. The Turkish-Australian hosts have also urged countries to sign a voluntary pledge to boost electrification.

The EU began the conference wanting any electrification agreement to refer explicitly to “clean” power, generated from renewables or nuclear, a position enshrined in the negotiating mandate agreed by its 27 member governments last month. But Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, who will co-lead negotiations for the EU from Monday, suggested in an interview that the bloc could drop that condition.