Guterres urges clean electrification to cut fossil fuel dependence at Antalya dialogue

UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged governments to speed up clean electrification and reduce dependence on fossil fuels at a high-level energy dialogue in Antalya, Türkiye, on November 11, 2026, according to remarks published by UN Press.

Guterres said the crisis in the Middle East had again demonstrated how reliance on fossil fuels exposes countries to shocks elsewhere, pushing up transport, business and food costs. Three-quarters of the world's people live in countries that import more fossil fuels than they export, he said.

He argued that electricity generated from clean energy could reduce import bills and improve energy security, while supporting employment, cleaner air and lower emissions. His proposals covered electric transport, more efficient electric heating and cooling, and clean power for industrial production.

The UN chief called for countries to meet global goals of tripling renewable capacity and doubling improvements in energy efficiency by 2030. He warned that new oil and gas developments, including import terminals, could leave countries facing decades of high costs and assets that lose their economic value.

His appeal addressed two obstacles to expanding clean electricity: connecting projects to power networks and securing finance where demand is growing. He called for investment in grids and storage alongside measures to make clean power affordable and extend access to people without electricity.

Around 3,000 gigawatts of advanced renewable energy and storage projects were awaiting grid connections, Guterres said. He put that at four times the wind and solar capacity connected worldwide the previous year and said the queue had expanded by 60 per cent in one year.

He urged governments to modernize networks, build storage, accelerate connections and link power systems across borders. The Global Grids Accelerator was bringing governments, development banks and investors together to advance projects, initially in Africa and South-East Asia, he said.

On financing, Guterres said emerging and developing economies would represent a growing share of additional energy demand and capacity, but investment was falling short. Those economies outside China received roughly one-fifth of clean energy investment, while many faced borrowing costs two to three times those in advanced economies, he said.

He urged shareholders to give multilateral development banks more resources and greater scope to take risks. He also called for more guarantees, concessional financing and assistance to turn developing countries' plans into projects capable of attracting investment.

Hundreds of millions of people still lacked electricity, Guterres said. He called for investment to reach unconnected communities, lower household bills and support workers through training and social protection, and urged countries to set out what they would electrify, how they would supply clean power and how they would pay for it.