UK and China restart meaningful climate change dialogue

• Energy Secretary visits Beijing to urge continued action from China – the world’s biggest emitter – to tackle the climate emergency   
• Miliband expected to say there is no route to keeping future generations safe from climate threat without engaging China in responsible climate leadership
• UK and China agree to secure and pragmatic cooperation and lesson sharing on climate and clean energy – delivering on government’s Plan for Change to re-engage with China on issues that matter to the British people

Pragmatic cooperation with China will help keep British people safe from the climate crisis, as UK and Chinese ministers are set to meet in Beijing for the first formal talks to accelerate climate action in nearly 8 years.  

As the government pursues its mission to become a clean energy superpower under the Plan for Change, The Energy Secretary will meet with China’s National Energy Administrator Minister Wang Hongzhi and China’s Ecology and Environment Minister Huang Runqiu in Beijing to commit to pragmatic engagement on the climate crisis, cooperating with China to reduce global emissions. 

The UK is expected to launch a formal Climate Dialogue with Chinese counterparts, inviting Chinese ministers to London later this year, and for the first time institutionalising climate change talks between both countries moving forward. 

China is the world’s largest investor and supplier of renewable energy but it remains the world’s largest emitter responsible for more emissions than the US, EU, India, and UK combined. China’s contribution to climate action is therefore crucial to tackling one of the biggest global challenges the world faces.   

The Energy Secretary will also use the visit to engage frankly with China on UK concerns on issues like forced labour in supply chains, human rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, and China’s ongoing support for Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.  

The climate crisis is an existential threat to our way of life in Britain. Extreme weather is changing the lives of people and communities across country; from thousands of acres of farmland being submerged due to storms like Bert and Daragh, to record numbers of heat-related deaths in recent summers. In turn, China are feeling the effects with temperatures in Beijing remaining above 35°C for a record breaking 28 days last year.  

The government’s Plan for Change is restoring the UK’s role as a responsible climate leader, and re-engaging with the world’s second largest economy will remain critical in delivering both climate and energy security for Britain and across the world.   

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:  

We can only keep future generations safe from climate change if all major emitters act. It is simply an act of negligence to today’s and future generations not to engage China on how it can play its part in taking action on climate. 

That is why I will be meeting Chinese ministers for frank conversations about how both countries can fulfil the aims of the Paris Climate Agreement, to which both countries are signed up.  

Our Plan for Change and clean energy superpower mission is about energy security, lower bills, good jobs and growth for the British people. It is with this mission that we can also influence climate action on a global stage, fight for our way of life and keep our planet safe for our children and grandchildren.

The Energy Secretary will refresh an outdated 10-year-old UK Clean Energy Partnership with China – which will now provide clarity on areas where the UK government can securely collaborate with China on areas of mutual benefit – such as new emerging technologies, including hydrogen and carbon capture and storage. The UK will also share expertise on phasing out coal, having closed its last coal-fired power station last year.

This will establish a formal agreed platform with China to engage with them on potential UK and global energy security concerns, and creating a channel to challenge them on areas where we disagree, such as forced labour in supply chains.

This further boosts already robust national security controls in our critical infrastructure such as the National Security and Investment Act – providing a strengthened mechanism to protect the UK’s national security, which is the first duty of government.

This is part of the government’s commitment to a long-term, strategic and pragmatic relationship with China, rooted in UK and global interests - cooperating where we can, competing where we need to, and challenging where we must. 

As an open economy, the UK welcomes investment from a wide range of countries and investors on the basis is supports the UK’s mission for growth securely and pragmatically. The government will not hesitate to use established powers to protect national security in energy infrastructure whenever concerns are identified. These discussions complement the government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower, delivering energy security and bringing down bills for good. The expected rise in the price cap shows once again the cost of remaining reliant on the unstable global fossil fuel markets that are driving price increases. 

Three years on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, wholesale gas prices have now risen by 15% compared to the previous price cap period, which is directly affecting the cost of generating power and heating of homes. Moving to a power system based on homegrown, clean energy will reduce the UK’s reliance on volatile markets and protect billpayers.  

To achieve this, government has set out the most ambitious reforms of the UK’s energy system in a generation. Within its first eight months in office, the government has lifted the onshore wind ban, established Great British Energy, approved nearly 3GW of solar, delivered a record-breaking renewables auction and kickstarted the carbon capture and hydrogen industries in the UK - helping to deliver energy security, grow the economy and deliver clean, cheap energy.    

Notes to editors

The last time an Energy Secretary visited Beijing for a formal climate and energy dialogue was in 2017. COP26 President Alok Sharma visited Tianjin in 2021 ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

However, both our formal partnerships with China on climate and clean energy both date back to 2015. And this visit signals a shift in the dial in re-engaging with China and updating relationships in line with the current global landscape.