At the UN Climate Change June Meetings in Bonn, the incoming COP31 Presidency announced new Action Agenda targets to raise electricity's share of final energy consumption to 35 per cent, and cut building-sector energy intensity by at least 25 per cent by 2035. The announcement marks a shift in the energy transition agenda. Expanding renewable electricity remains essential, but countries must also electrify transport, buildings and industry, and build power systems that can manage the resulting demand. 

That challenge was the focus of The Electrification Imperative: Winning the Demand-Side Race side event, convened by International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Efficiency Council and partners, and moderated by Lily Riahi, Head of UNEP's Buildings and Cooling Unit. Speakers included Australia's Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen; Ghana's Minister of State for Climate Change and Sustainability, Seidu Issifu; Tuğba Dinçbaş, Director of the COP31 Action Agenda and Deputy Director of Türkiye's Climate Change Directorate; Dr Heike Henn, Director General for International Climate Action at Germany's Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety; and Ruth do Coutto, Deputy Director of the Climate Change Division at the United Nations Environment Programme, alongside representatives from the United Arab Emirates, the World Green Building Council and the Global Renewables Alliance.

The grid challenge behind electrification

Cooling, appliances, data centres and electric vehicles are adding new loads and sharper peaks, often faster than grids can expand. At the same time, network constraints, limited storage and weak flexibility restrict how much renewable power systems can absorb, even as 91 per cent of new renewable capacity now delivers cheaper electricity than fossil alternatives. The constraint is no longer the cost of clean power but how to use it reliably.

Panellists set out what that means in practice. Australia's Chris Bowen framed electrification as a route to energy security and competitiveness, arguing that recent shocks have exposed the risks of dependence on fossil fuels and fragile supply chains. Ghana's Seidu Issifu underscored the development dimension, noting that emerging economies must expand access, strengthen grids and meet rising demand at once, often while facing severe climate impacts and limited investment.

Turning demand into a resource

Demand-side flexibility shifts, reduces or shapes electricity use in response to system needs, moving consumption off peak hours, pre-cooling buildings when renewables are abundant, using storage, or aggregating buildings to respond collectively to the grid. It can cut peaks, relieve congestion, integrate more renewable power and defer costly grid reinforcement.

Yet, deployment stays limited. Most countries still lack the planning tools, tariffs, market rules and procurement models to reward flexibility, and finance remains fixed on plants, substations and transmission rather than the controls, metering and software flexibility depends on.

Buildings and cooling at the heart of it

Buildings are where flexible loads and technologies converge, appliances, batteries, rooftop solar, thermal storage, digital controls. Cooling is among the fastest-growing electricity loads and a major peak driver, straining grids during heatwaves precisely when reliable cooling is critical for health. Efficient buildings, smart controls and thermal storage can hold safe indoor conditions while shifting use away from the most constrained hours.

The Action Hub on Demand-Side Flexibility connects the energy, buildings and cooling communities around this agenda. Launched by the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction and the Cool Coalition, and chaired by UNEP with IRENA and the China Association of Building Energy Efficiency, the Hub brings together governments, utilities, regulators, cities, industry and finance to build evidence and advance delivery.

Bonn gave the demand side stronger political recognition. At London Climate Action Week, UNEP and its partners take the next step, showing how buildings and cooling can strengthen electricity security, integrate renewable power and lower the cost of electrification.