Brazil, the COP30 lead, formally presented a roadmap on Tuesday for moving away from fossil fuels. The presentation took place on the second day of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, which UN News called Energy and Transport Day.

The roadmap is voluntary and is not a new binding climate agreement, according to UN News. It was first released on Nov. 3. COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago handed it to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who said it was time to stop treating the shift away from fossil fuels as “taboo or intractable.”

The roadmap follows a pledge countries made three years ago in Dubai, at COP28, to transition away from coal, oil and gas. Ana Toni, CEO of Brazil’s COP30 Presidency, said it looks at three linked issues: fossil fuel demand, production and supply, and the economic effects of moving away from them. It also gives countries indicators to assess their readiness and spot obstacles, along with proposals for more international cooperation.

Guterres said fossil fuel dependence is becoming an expensive liability. He said the European Union has paid more than €100 billion in extra fossil fuel import costs since the current escalation in the Middle East began. He also said petrol and diesel prices have surged across 130 countries.

Guterres called on countries to produce national plans with clear timelines and financing needs, and to show measurable progress by 2028.

According to UN News, the challenge looks different from country to country. Oil and gas producers must prepare for falling revenue and changes to jobs and industries. Countries that depend on imported fuel need alternatives that reduce their exposure to volatile energy markets.

Türkiye, the COP31 host, promoted its 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge. It aims to raise electricity’s share of global energy consumption from just over 20% today to 35% by 2035.

Power grids were another focus. Dario Liguti, director of the Energy, Housing and Land Management Division at the UN Economic Commission for Europe, told UN News that about 2,500 gigawatts of power generation and other energy projects are waiting for grid connections worldwide. He said some facilities cannot connect at all, and others must cut output because networks cannot take the power. He called for millions of kilometers of new transmission lines and upgrades to existing ones.

Cost of financing was also raised. Olli-Pekka Kuusela, a researcher at the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research, told UN News that poorer countries often face much higher borrowing costs. That makes clean energy projects hard to finance even when the technology is competitive, he said.

UN News said development banks could help by offering lower-interest loans. It reported that more than half a billion people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack electricity. In Zambia, where Kuusela has done research, it said severe drought reduced hydropower production and led to blackouts and electricity rationing.

The UN’s Global Grids Accelerator seeks to unlock investment in electricity networks and speed up their expansion and modernization, UN News said.