- Prime Minister Keir Starmer has officially launched the Global Clean Power Alliance at the G20 in Rio de Janeiro today, with 12 countries signing up to join its first mission
- Global Clean Power Alliance will unite countries to speed up the clean energy transition globally, while bolstering the UK’s energy security and creating thousands of jobs
- UK continues to lead the way on tackling the climate crisis, following PM’s interventions at COP29 in Azerbaijan last week
The Prime Minister has officially launched the UK-led Global Clean Power Alliance today, in a major boost for the world’s clean energy transition.
Brazil, Australia, Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Morocco, Norway, Tanzania, the African Union are the first countries to sign up to its first mission. The United States and the European Union will also partner with the UK on the initiative.
At the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the Prime Minister and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva confirmed the new partnership, saying that it will speed up the global drive for clean power by uniting developed and developing countries across the north and south.
The alliance of countries will work together and share expertise with the goal of meeting the COP28 commitments to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency.
The Global Clean Power Alliance will have ‘Missions’ to address the most critical energy transition challenges. The first of these is the Finance Mission, which will be published today and co-chaired by Brazil, will harness the political leadership needed to unlock private finance on a huge scale, so that no developing country is left behind.
It commits to supporting countries to build investment platforms and providing the assistance needed to get clean finance flowing.
The UK is leading the way on the green energy transition. One of the Prime Minister’s missions is to make Britain a clean energy superpower – making the British people better off by investing in clean homegrown power to end national exposure to fossil fuel markets and the dictators who control them.
The UK has already seen £34.8 billion of private investment into homegrown clean energy industries since July – unlocking thousands of jobs and making the British people better off.
There are already around 640,000 people employed in green jobs across the UK – a rise of 20% from 2020 to 2022, growing at a rate 4 times faster than overall UK employment.
The UK’s success highlights the potential for the global transition, as well as marking the return to responsible global leadership on the biggest challenges of our time.
Since taking office in July, the government has also lifted the de facto ban on onshore wind, pledged to end new oil and gas licences and launched the new national clean power company GB Energy.
Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said:
The UK is already leading the way in the clean power transition – we’ve phased out coal power, lifted the ban on onshore wind and launched GB Energy – but we will not stop there.
We want our clean energy ambitions to go global, so it is fantastic news that multiple other countries are now on board with the UK-led Global Clean Power Alliance.
I will restore the UK’s role as a climate leader on the world stage – and this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make sure we face up to the climate crisis head-on, while delivering more jobs, growth and prosperity for people across the entire planet.
Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband, said:
Speeding up the global clean energy transition is in Britain’s national interest – it is the route to the jobs of the future, energy security and tackling the climate crisis.
The UK is back in the business of climate leadership and that means working more closely with other countries to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster and unlock the rewards of cheap, secure and clean power at home and abroad.
Brazil signing up to our finance mission is a huge vote of confidence ahead of the crucial COP30 summit in Belem next year, sending a strong message to the world that together we can accelerate the clean energy revolution.
Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said:
The climate crisis is the greatest challenge the world faces and tackling it is essential for Britain’s national security, energy security and economic growth.
Britain is back leading from the front on climate change at home and abroad. Working with allies and partners, the Global Clean Power Alliance will turbocharge the rollout of clean power worldwide and support our mission to become a clean energy superpower.
Our partnership with Brazil, who will co-lead the first GCPA Mission on Finance, will scale up clean energy investment and help meet our climate goals.