The Latin America Clean Energy Coalition (LACEC) is pleased to support a new global campaign to supercharge electrification powered by renewable energy, Electrify Now, launched at the Global Energy Transition and Electrification Summit at London Climate Week.
Diego Merizalde, LACEC Lead, said that LACEC is a proud campaign partner of a new international movement comprising over 40 business groups, think tanks and civil society organisations, backed by governments including the EU, UK, Australia, Turkey and Ethiopia, united by a shared mission to accelerate the rate and rollout of electrification, and fast-track our renewable, electric future.
“The ongoing energy crisis has underscored the economic risks associated with a high dependence on fossil fuels. Strengthening Latin America’s energy security and sovereignty will depend on catalyzing global momentum and attracting the necessary investments to advance electrification. Currently, electricity accounts for only 20% of final energy consumption in the region, yet globally, electrification must reach 35% by 2035, moving four times faster than today. This signals a significant opportunity for expansion and transformation of Latin America’s energy systems over the coming decade”, said Diego Merizalde.
Electrification means expanding electricity systems to meet a greater share of humanity’s needs, and replacing the use of fossil fuels with electrified transport, heating, cooling, cooking, and industrial processes. As countries seek to strengthen energy security, reduce costs, and cut emissions, electrification is one of the most effective solutions available.
“Beyond the goals of tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency, a wider challenge lies ahead to accelerate electrification of economies. For Latin America, the question is no longer whether to electrify—that shift is already underway across two of the highest-emitting sectors: transport and industry. The question now is how fast the region moves to capture this momentum and how it can build on the leadership of strategic initiatives such as the Electrify Now Campaign to turn electrification a priority to secure clean, affordable, abundant, and accessible energy.” (Sylvana Böhrt, LACEC Team Member)
The campaign aims to galvanise stakeholders to take action and raise ambition, calling on governments to put electrification at the centre of their energy policies by working together to achieve 35% electrification by 2035 globally – a target supported by the best available science from the IEA and IRENA – and recently put forward by the COP31 incoming Presidency.
The campaign urges governments to:
- Translate the collective global ambition into action via national and sub-national action plans, policies and electrotech deployment.
- Match increasing electricity demand with continued investment in renewable energy, modernised and expanded electricity grids, and energy storage.
- Advance international cooperation, by exchanging experience through bilateral and multilateral meetings, leveraging coalitions of ambition around the energy transition and deploying technical assistance to support electrification planning capacity.
- Mobilise investment and financing at scale by using public finance to crowd in private capital, while ensuring international finance institutions systematically integrate electrification into energy, climate, crisis response, and capacity-building support.
LACEC is a regional coalition that brings together companies, developers, financiers, associations, and strategic partners to accelerate clean energy adoption across the region’s industries and businesses. This campaign aligns with LACEC’s mission to strengthen the policy and market conditions needed to expand clean energy across Latin America, and we are proud to support it in accelerating the electrification of our energy systems.
Notes to editors:
Electrify Now is a movement of business groups, think tanks and civil society organisations united by a mission to accelerate the rate and rollout of electrification of energy systems worldwide, and fast-track our clean, electric future. Visit the web site for a full list of campaign partners.