Energy security will come through "strong decarbonisation" and shifting to renewables because fossil fuels "do not guarantee supply security", the climate ministers of Turkey and Australia said today, adding that the topic of transitioning away from fossil fuels will be further addressed at the UN Cop 31 climate summit.
The countries are working together to prepare the Cop 31 climate summit in Antalya later this year, with Turkey hosting the conference and Australia heading climate negotiations.
The energy crisis stemming from the war in the Mideast Gulf has "clearly shown us that fossil fuels do not guarantee energy supply security" and countries should invest in "alternative energy sources" to support stability, resilient and clean development, upcoming Cop 31 climate summit president and Turkey's environment minister Murat Kurum said today. "Every country has to be independent and this should come through clean energy sources", including renewables, hydrogen and ammonia, he said.
"We know that relying solely on fossil fuels means walking towards volatility, insecurity and climate collapse", he said during the 17th Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin as he laid out Turkey's vision focused on implementation for Cop 31.
"As we all agreed in Dubai, we emphasised how important the need for alternative energy sources and the diversification of countries' energy is, in line with national circumstances," he said.
Almost 200 countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels at the Cop 28 climate summit in 2023 and developed nations agreed to deliver $300bn/yr to developing countries by 2035 at Cop 29 in Baku.
Kurum urged countries to fulfil commitments made at previous climate summits, including on finance and energy, asking those that did not summit climate plans — or nationally determined contributions (NDCs) — to do so. Around 43 countries have yet to submit their NDCs, according to Kurum.
Australia's climate and energy minister Chris Bowen said the crisis is a unique opportunity to show that energy reliability, sovereignty and security go hand in hand with "strong decarbonisation", and he welcomed Germany's push for a discussion on electrification at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue. German environment minister Carsten Schneider said today he wanted to discuss how to tackle the topic of electrification before Cop 31 and how countries can successfully advance the topic.
"Doubling down on fossil fuels is not the answer to that crisis," Bowen said. "Wind cannot be subject to sanctions, sun cannot be interrupted by a blockage", he said, referring to the shipping interruption in the strait of Hormuz caused by the US-Israel-Iran war.
"At the end of the day, we have to take steps to help countries to transition towards clean energies and in terms of phasing out fossil fuels," Kurum said. He said Cop 31 will address the phase out of fossil fuels, so the world moves away from them. Clean energy will be one of the topics of Turkey's action agenda at Cop 31, Kurum said.
Bowen pointed out there were "three processes" under way ahead of Cop 31, including the Belem roadmap on transitioning away from fossil fuels under the responsibility of the Brazilian Cop 30 presidency, and a global implementation accelerator and the Belem Mission to 1.5°C that were both agreed by the Cop parties last year.
"I am very confident we can bring these processes together," Bowen said.
The Cop 30 presidency last year pledged to oversee the creation of a roadmap on fossil fuels as countries failed to agree to address the topic in the summit's text.
