Kofi Ahovi

  The COP31 Presidency has announced an ambitious global target to increase the share of final energy demand met by electricity from just over 20 percent today to 35 percent by 2035, as part of a broader Action Agenda aimed at accelerating climate action and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. COP31 President-Designate and Türkiye’s Minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, Murat Kurum, unveiled the target during the Bonn Climate Change Conference, describing electrification as a key pillar in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and keeping global warming within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The proposed "35% by 2035" target is backed by analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The COP31 Presidency also announced plans to build a global coalition to support countries in implementing policies and investments needed to achieve the goal. Beyond electrification, the Presidency introduce...

 Ghana is hosting a three-day strategy meeting of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), with climate experts and national focal points working to consolidate a unified African position ahead of COP31 in Turkey and COP32 in Ethiopia. The meeting, running from March 30 to April 1, is the first in-person strategic session under Ghana’s chairmanship of the AGN—a milestone marked by the assumption of leadership by Nana Dr Antwi-Boasiako Amoah, the first Ghanaian to chair the group since the country signed the UN climate convention in 1992. Welcoming participants, the Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Authority, Prof. Nana Ama Browne Klutse, said Africa’s influence in global climate talks depends on its ability to stay united. “Africa’s strength in global climate negotiations has always been its unity,” she said, describing the meeting as timely and essential in shaping Africa’s priorities ahead of the next two COPs. Prof. Klutse noted that although Africa contrib...