Operationalizing Strategic Electrification at COP31

Operationalizing Strategic Electrification at COP31 Passed

Thursday November 12, 2026 18:00 - 18:40 +03 The Swedish pavilion - Open for public

Exhibitor: 21st Century Power Partnership (21CPP) and International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN)

As the international community gathers at COP31 under an agenda dedicated to implementation, cooperation, and the execution of enhanced NDCs, the central challenge of the energy transition has shifted from high-level ambition to delivery infrastructure. Strategic electrification sits at the heart of this transition, acting as the primary engine for industrial decarbonization, economic competitiveness, and energy security. However, as highlighted in the 21st Century Power Partnership (21CPP) Thought Leadership Report (TLR), rising electricity demand from electric vehicles, massive cooling requirements, data centers, and heavy industry will only strengthen energy systems if countries can plan and deliver the enabling architecture around it—specifically clean power, modernized grids, demand flexibility, regulatory readiness, and bankable investment pathways.

COP31 provides a critical multilateral milestone to bridge national climate commitments with practical power system execution. Too often, national transition targets falter against real-world delivery constraints: multi-year grid connection queues, unmanaged peak loads, supply-chain bottlenecks for critical components, and lagging institutional capacity. This side event moves beyond general dialogue to examine how governments, system operators, and Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) workstreams can operationalize the TLR’s core findings. By translating strategic electrification into concrete country action plans, participants will explore how proactive demand shaping, hosting-capacity transparency, non-wire alternatives, and risk-integrated planning can accelerate clean energy deployment while safeguarding consumer affordability and system reliability from CEM17 through COP31 and into 2027 delivery workstreams.

Moderator:

Doug Arent, MBA, Ph.D, 21CPP Operating Agent /World Resources Institute

Speakers:

Clem Perry, Global Lead, Clean Energy Supply, the WRI Polsky Energy Center, World Resources Institute /21CPP
John Ward, Research Director, CSIRO/ISGAN
Kaori Ikeda/ Cameron Butler, Director, COP31 Taskforce – Electrification/ Assistant Director, International Climate and Energy- COP31 Global Electrification, Australian Government
Jean Francois Gagne, CEM Secretariat Head, Clean Energy Ministerial Secretariat

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