COP31: A focus on electrification as extreme weather events shake the world

This is France's largest glacier, but the Mer de Glace on Mont Blanc is melting. It has lost nearly four metres in thickness this year and is a visual reminder of how quickly the world is warming. Yet scientists say people shouldn't lose hope in the UN climate change conferences, known as COPs. When we compare the current situation, for example, to where we were in 2015 when the Paris Agreement was signed, while we've made progress in terms of the number of countries reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and in temperature projections for the end of the century, the worst-case scenarios are less likely. COP 31 in Turkey will have a big focus on electrification. Ankara is pushing to make electricity account for 35% of all global energy consumption by 2035. We can electrify transport, we can electrify the building sector, we can switch from gas to energy. So in addition to reducing households' energy bills tied to fossil fuels, this also helps decarbonise. The overarching goal is to limit greenhouse gas emissions, which are already driving more extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, cyclones and floods, including those that devastated Nepal in August. The world's poorest countries are often disproportionately affected by climate change and are also expected to ask developed nations for more financial support and a clearer roadmap away from fossil fuels.