Put Grids at Centre of Energy, Development, Increase Investment 50 Per Cent by 2030, Secretary-General Urges at Climate Change Conference High-Level Event

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres' remarks, as delivered, to the thirty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) high-level event on Global Grids Accelerator - Power for Future: Grids for Energy Security and Prosperity, in Antalya, Türkiye, today:

The climate crisis is accelerating. And the global energy crisis has laid bare the folly of our dependence on fossil fuels. A conflict far away can send bills soaring at home.

Fortunately, there is a way out. Renewables are the cheapest, fastest, and most secure source of new electricity almost everywhere. Clean energy has gone from alternative to unstoppable.

For every dollar invested in fossil fuels, 2 dollars are now going to clean energy. But the transition is not happening fast or fairly enough. If renewables are the heart of the energy transition, grids are its arteries.

And today, those arteries are clogged. Some 3,000 gigawatts of advanced stage renewable energy and battery projects are stuck in queues. A solar farm can be built in a year. A new transmission line can take up to 15 years to plan, permit and complete.

The bottleneck is tightest in developing countries. They are rich in sun and wind but starved of investment. We cannot build a clean energy future while leaving them behind.

The age of electrification requires twenty-first-century grids. That means building or upgrading more than 80 million kilometres of power lines by 2040. Making systems smarter and more resilient - with storage, digital tools and artificial intelligence. And linking them across borders - to strengthen energy security and cut costs.

That is why, in September, we launched the Global Grids Accelerator. It brings the United Nations system together - working with Governments, multilateral development banks, and private finance. We are starting in Africa and South-East Asia - two regions central to the world's energy future, where the need is most urgent.

In Africa, 600 million people still live without electricity. Stronger national grids and regional power pools can light up homes, clinics and factories - and drive sustainable growth. We are supporting Mission 300 and the African Union's Continental Master Plan - make that happen.

In South-East Asia, energy demand is soaring - the region is set to account for nearly one fifth of global growth over the next decade. And 60 per cent of its crude oil imports come from the Middle East. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Power Grid offers greater energy security and independence - and stronger economies.

These plans are set by the countries and regions themselves. Our role is to help deliver them - mobilizing expertise and finance and overcoming barriers no country or institution can resolve alone.

I have three asks.

First, to Governments: put grids at the centre of your energy and development strategies; develop credible long-term grid plans; modernize regulation and cut red tape and fast-track priority projects.

Second, to donors, multilateral development banks and development finance institutions: step up and work together. Grids require patient, affordable capital. Global grid investment must rise by around 50 per cent by 2030. That means scaling up direct financing, more support to prepare bankable projects, guarantees and risk-sharing that bring down the cost of capital and financing that strengthens utilities and attracts private investment. Above all, it means pulling in the same direction - behind country and regional priorities.

Third, to private finance and industry: engage early; help shape viable projects and identify the barriers to investment; work with Governments and public lenders to remove them; and bring capital, technology and expertise to build the backbone of tomorrow's economies.

The Global Grids Accelerator is about connecting these pieces, connecting national ambition with regional opportunity, connecting projects with finance and connecting political commitment with delivery.

Today, I look forward to hearing from countries in Africa and South-East Asia about their priorities and from financial and technical partners about how to deliver them.

Our task beyond COP31 is clear: turn priorities into projects, and projects into power. The clean energy transition is accelerating. The grids that carry it must accelerate with it. Let us build the infrastructure to deliver clean, reliable and affordable electricity - and connect everyone to a more secure and prosperous future.