GWEC backs ‘Electrify Now’ movement to accelerate wind and renewable energy

23 June, London | Electrify Now, a new global campaign to supercharge electrification powered by renewable energy, launches today. The initiative seeks to expand opportunities for wind and other renewables and is spearheaded by the Global Renewables Alliance with support from the Global Wind Energy Council as the voice of the wind industry worldwide.

Ben Backwell, CEO of GWEC and Chair of the Global Renewables Alliance, will join business leaders and government ministers to officially launch the campaign at a Global Energy Transition and Electrification Summit during London Climate Action Week. The new international movement comprises over 40 business groups, think tanks and civil society organisations, and is supported by the European Commission and the governments of the United Kingdom, Australia, Turkey and Ethiopia.

The Electrify Now campaign aims to increase electrification of the world’s energy system from around 21% today to 35% by 2035, moving four times faster than we are today. Electrification involves 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.

“Electrification should be the number one priority for every decision-maker today. Whether you are a car owner or a small business owner, a CEO or a Government Leader, the economic benefits of running on clean electric power are undeniable,”  

“Electrifying Now means saying ‘yes!’ to limitless, low-cost, clean, secure and resilient wind and renewable energy. It is about turning our backs on the fossil fuel economy and no longer being subject to repeated and prolonged energy crises caused by extreme volatility in international oil and gas markets.”

 

“Wind power now generates almost 10% of global electricity demand, and we are accelerating fast. GWEC’s members – pioneering wind manufacturers, developers and supply chain businesses – are deploying a phenomenal, proven, cost-effective technology. The greater we can electrify our economies, the more affordable, homegrown, clean wind energy we can bring online to power homes and businesses across the world.”

 

Ben Backwell, CEO, GWEC

The Electrify Now 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 Electrify Now 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.

GWEC co-founded the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) alongside other leading clean energy organisations in 2022, and Ben Backwell took over the GRA’s chairmanship in January 2025. The founding organisations representing clean tech sectors include the Global Solar Council, the International Hydropower Association, the Green Hydrogen Organisation, the Long Duration Energy Storage Council and the International Geothermal Association.