PM pledges to make UK a clean energy superpower ahead of COP27
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PM to travel to Egypt to galvanise action on the climate
commitments made at COP26 in Glasgow Rishi Sunak will pledge to
speed up the transition to renewables to create new high-wage jobs,
protect UK energy security and deliver on net zero UK to chair a
high-level meeting on forests and announce new support for
climate-vulnerable countries The Prime Minister will urge countries
to deliver on the Glasgow Climate Pact and set out his intention to
make the UK...Request free trial
The Prime Minister will urge countries to deliver on the Glasgow Climate Pact and set out his intention to make the UK a clean energy superpower when he travels to COP27 in Egypt today [Sunday 6th November]. The UK has already cut carbon emissions faster than any other G7 country, with renewable sources like wind and solar now making up more than 40 percent of our energy supply – a four-fold increase on a decade ago. Addressing COP27 tomorrow, Rishi Sunak will say that in light of the shock to the energy markets caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK will work with international allies to go further and faster to transition to cheaper, cleaner and safer sources of energy. We will only be able to ensure households and businesses have reliable, affordable fuel by solving the climate crisis and ensuring renewables are at the heart of our energy security. There are already around 430,000 jobs in low carbon businesses and their supply chains across the country, supported by £30 billion in government support for the Green Industrial Revolution in the last 18 months. The transition to renewables will create more high wage, high skill jobs across the UK in the industries of the future. As the UK hands over the presidency to Egypt, Rishi Sunak will urge leaders gathering in Sharm el-Sheikh not to backslide on the promise of COP26, where countries came together to sign the landmark Glasgow Climate Pact. The Prime Minister will hold meetings with fellow world leaders to discuss new partnerships on energy security, green technology and environmental protection, and is expected to announce further funding for conservation in threatened tropical rainforests and support for countries on the frontline of climate change. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: When the world came together in Glasgow last year, nations agreed an historic roadmap for preventing catastrophic global warming. As I travel to COP27 in Egypt today, it is more important than ever that we deliver on those pledges. Fighting climate change is not just a moral good – is it fundamental to our future prosperity and security. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and contemptible manipulation of energy prices has only reinforced the importance of ending our dependence on fossil fuels. We need to move further and faster to transition to renewable energy, and I will ensure the UK is at the forefront of this global movement as a clean energy superpower. The Prime Minister is expected to chair a meeting of world leaders on forests and nature, to drive progress on the landmark pledge signed by more than 100 countries last November to halt and reverse deforestation and damaging land use by 2030. He will also attend a roundtable on energy transition partnerships, which are utilising public and private sector funds to support low and middle-income countries like South Africa to move away from fossil fuels and grow their green economies. UK COP President Alok Sharma is in Sharm el-Sheikh today for handover ceremony to Egypt, ahead of two weeks of intensive climate negotiations. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will also travel to COP27 with the Prime Minister, and other ministers are expected to attend throughout the summit.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will cement the UK’s COP legacy with a series of announcements on energy transition, climate financing and forest and nature preservation, as he hands over the baton to Egypt at COP27 today [Monday 7th November]. The UK continues deliver on our key funding commitments, spending £11.6 billion on international climate finance. Recognising the existential threat climate change is already posing around the world – from catastrophic floods in Pakistan to drought in Somalia – the Government will commit to triple funding for climate adaptation as part of that budget, from £500m in 2019 to £1.5bn in 2025. The Prime Minister will also host an event later today to launch the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership. The new group, initially comprising 20 countries, will meet twice yearly to track commitments on the landmark Forests and Land Use declaration at COP26, which aims to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030. To support the forest agenda, the UK is committing £90m today for conservation in the Congo Basin, a vital tropical rainforest which is home to some 10,000 species of tropical plants and several endangered species, including forest elephants, chimpanzees and mountain gorillas. The PM will also confirm £65 million in funding for the Nature, People and Climate Investment Fund, which supports indigenous and local forest communities, and new financing for Treevive, which is working to conserve and restore two million hectares of tropical forest. As we hand over the Presidency of COP, the Government is focused in particular on partnering with the private sector to facilitate green innovation and energy transition, at home and around the world. As well as helping the drive for net zero, reducing the global demand for oil and gas cuts off the funds for Russia’s brutal war machine. In support of this, the Prime Minister will announce a further £65.5 million for the Clean Energy Innovation Facility today, which provides grants to researchers and scientists in developing countries to accelerate the development of clean technology. Since the BEIS-led fund was launched in 2019 it has supported the creation of biomass-powered refrigeration in India, prototype lithium-ion batteries in Nigeria and clean hydrogen-based fuels for steel production in Morocco, among other innovations. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to tell COP27 later today: The world came together in Glasgow with one last chance to create a plan that would limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. The question today is: can we summon the collective will to deliver on those promises? I believe we can. By honouring the pledges we made in Glasgow, we can turn our struggle against climate change into a global mission for new jobs and clean growth. And we can bequeath our children a greener planet and a more prosperous future. That’s a legacy we could be proud of. As well as supporting innovation, the UK is working with G7 allies to provide countries with reliable, transparent sources of sustainable infrastructure financing. Ahead of an expected meeting later today between the Prime Minister and President Ruto, the UK and Kenya have reaffirmed their commitment to the UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership and agreed to progress a number of flagship green investment projects. The projects include new and expanded solar and geothermal power plants in Kenya backed by British International Investment, UK export financing for Nairobi’s ground-breaking Railway City and a major Public-private Partnership on the $3 billion Grand High Falls Dam hydropower project led by UK firm GBM Engineering. The UK will also confirm new financial support for Egypt’s flagship COP27 initiative, the ‘Nexus on Food, Water and Energy’. The funding will develop projects including solar parks and energy storage innovations, and is expected to mobilise billions in private sector finance. The Prime Minister is also expected to hold a series of bilateral meetings at COP27 today, including with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. He will also attend a roundtable discussion focused on energy transition partnerships, and will deliver a national plenary statement later in the day setting out the UK’s climate commitments.
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