Ali Koç: Clean energy needs domestic supply chains and affordable finance

Jennifer Zabasajja asks how closely the private sector’s priorities align with the COP31 presidency’s emphasis on implementing climate commitments. Ali Koç says the question is best understood in a global economy that is changing rapidly.

Koç says clean energy has shifted from being treated as a social responsibility to an economic necessity as costs have fallen. He sees a wider geopolitical change: business decisions that once emphasized efficiency and cost increasingly reflect governments’ desire for sovereignty and security.

In Koç’s view, countries increasingly want control of value chains and less exposure to external shocks. He says developed economies are prioritizing industries and domestic capacity where production was previously dispersed across the world.

Energy, he argues, is no longer simply a production cost: it has become central to economic resilience, independence and competitiveness. Koç regards the changing relationship among governments, markets and national security as structural rather than a passing cycle.

Koç says strong Chinese competition, geopolitical risk and energy independence are reshaping business decisions. He points to disruption around a strategic strait as an example of how events in one location can affect economies and politics elsewhere.

He describes electrification as the next stage after earlier coal, oil and gas eras. Asked who is leading, Koç contrasts Europe’s regulation and carbon pricing with US energy abundance and China’s renewable manufacturing capacity and state support.

Koç says the outcome will depend on capital, energy and industrial capacity. He expects the US to remain a leading economy for decades, while arguing that China’s competition will be difficult to slow.

Zabasajja asks what the shift means for businesses. Koç says governments are increasingly directing where companies invest. For Türkiye, he identifies dependence on imported energy as a source of vulnerability and pressure on the current account.

Koç argues that replacing fossil fuels with cleaner domestic energy can reduce that exposure, while geopolitical shocks can otherwise affect the broader economy. Capital is available, he says, but its cost varies across locations.

He sees opportunities throughout the energy value chain, not only in producing electricity: mineral refining and components for solar, hydro and wind are examples. A country that imports all the equipment needed to generate power, he says, risks replacing one dependency with another.

Asked where investment is most needed, Koç points first to grids. He cites a need for 18 million kilometers of new or upgraded grid by 2040, then adds storage: electricity is not useful to every customer at the same time, and generation may lack an adequate grid connection.

Koç says industry needs differing amounts of energy at different times, so distribution and storage must accompany generation. He also favors a mix of sources that can balance one another rather than relying on wind or solar alone.

Zabasajja asks how Koç’s group prioritizes investment given its refining business. Koç says fossil fuels still account for a large share of primary energy and must be refined, while the cleanliness and quality of refining matter. He contrasts that continuing demand with the group’s renewable-energy plans.

Koç says the group expects to have close to 1,000 megawatts of electricity capacity by 2028, approximately 80% renewable. Its renewable focus is currently stronger in wind than solar, he says.

Looking at the next decade, Koç says the group is considering energy opportunities both in Türkiye and abroad, including Europe. He also wants it to participate at several points in the value chain rather than only producing power.

Koç says partnerships with Chinese companies stand out because suppliers can provide technology and long-term financing packages. In his view, affordable finance is essential to making clean-energy investment viable.

He cites an imbalance in investment: he says developing countries outside China contain two-thirds of the world’s population but receive only 15% of clean-energy investment, while Africa has 20% of the population and receives 2%. He presents access to finance as a key determinant of whether projects can proceed profitably.

Asked what success at COP31 would look like, Koç says high-level meetings have too often produced commitments without delivery. He wants action on promises made at earlier COPs as well as those made at this meeting.

Koç proposes a recurring scorecard that tests whether promised capacity is supported by the necessary grids, storage and financing. Publishing it at each COP, he says, would let people see whether commitments are feasible and progress is being made.

Clean energy and economic priorities are increasingly aligned, Koç says, but he does not believe market forces can meet the entire climate ambition. Some of the most vulnerable places have urgent needs without offering the same economic returns.

He calls for policies to address gaps that markets cannot fill, and raises the earlier commitment to mobilize $300 billion a year for emerging countries. Koç says more needs to happen and argues that developed countries and development banks should contribute to financing the transition.

Koç cites a comparison between how much development-bank finance mobilizes in developed and developing countries and says the formula should change. Asked whether he is optimistic, he says he is hopeful but that determined leadership will make the difference.