THis climate crisis is an existing threat to our way of life in Britain. The extreme weather is changing the lives of people and communities across the country, from thousands of hectares of farms that are sinking due to hurricanes such as Bert and Darrag to record the numbers of heat-related deaths in recent summer.
The only way to respond to this challenge is to decided at home and abroad. Inside the house, the clean mission of this government superpower is about investing in homegrown’s clean energy so that we can free the UK from hoping in fossil fuel markets while seizing immense opportunities for jobs and growth.
But climate action at home without pushing larger countries to make their fair part not protect current and future generations. Emissions do not know boundaries, and we only protect our farmers, our pensioners and our children if we can get other countries in the world to play their part.
That’s why this week I travel to Beijing: to encourage continued action from China, the world’s largest emitter – responsible for almost 30% of global releases – to deal with emergency climate. I will meet Chinese ministers for explicitly talk about how both countries can fulfill the purposes of the Paris climate agreement, where both countries have signed up.
China is responsible for more leaks than the US, EU, India and the UK, yet I am the first secretary of energy since 2017 to visit China. Obviously, I consider it to be neglected today and future generations not to engage in China on this topic. As the Chancellor said before his recent journey, choosing not to engage in China has no choice.
People often ask me why the UK should act on the climate crisis when we account for just 1% of the current global releases. But the fact that we only contribute 1% of the leaks is not a reason to retreat from the global phase. It is an instruction for Britain to use our influence to generate a global coalition to encourage the action the world needs. This is our only ambition at home, which this government has changed after years of final government’s failure, giving us the credibility to force others to act. It’s about protecting British people today and for generations to come.
Of course, during my visit I will be in the business of challenges as well as cooperation, raising issues including forced labor in the supply chain, Russian invasion of Ukraine and Human Rights in Hong Kong. But disagreement cannot be a reason for disengagement.
In recent years, we have turned away many of our allies, including France, Germany and Australia, have continued to interact with China despite sharing many of the same disagreements we have.
The truth is that the backbone has done nothing to advance our priorities, which is why our government is taking a new approach to China.
In the next few days, I will meet my Chinese counterparts to discuss how all countries can rise to climate challenges. We will launch a formal climate dialogue, inviting Chinese ministers in London later this year and for the first time that promotes climate change talks between both countries moving forward.
We also sign a refreshing UK-China Clean Energy Partnership, updating our approach to engage in these issues for the first time in a decade. It’s about learning lessons from each other about how we dedicated, from getting carbon to hydrogen. At all times there will be a strict national security test in any collaboration.
My visit speaks to a broader fact: climate, as in others, we can only fight our national interests by interacting with the international stage. As the Prime Minister showed when he led the world to COP29 last winter, we should work together in other countries if we want to keep our people safe. Farmers, Pensioners of Britain and future generations are not less. That’s the message I will deliver to Beijing.
