UK to lead global clean power coalition, wants climate to be at heart of foreign policy

The UK launched a new Global Clean Power Alliance Sept. 17 designed to help countries "leapfrog fossil fuels and transition to power systems with renewables at their core," the country's foreign secretary said Sept. 17.

Speaking at an industry event, David Lammy said this initiative was part of recent UK efforts to cement its status as a leader in climate diplomacy.

"While I am foreign secretary, action on the climate and nature crisis will be central to all the Foreign Office does. This is critical given the scale of the threat, but also the scale of the opportunity," he said.

This alliance is focused on accelerating the clean energy transition, with a focus on helping emerging economies and developing countries scale up renewable energy investment.

The Labour government has set an ambitious goal of fully decarbonizing its power system by 2030.

Many analysts have said it is unlikely this target will be met without material contributions from carbon capture, new nuclear or clean hydrogen.

The UK has set a target to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035 compared with 1990 levels, before reaching net zero by 2050. UK greenhouse gas emissions fell 5.4% last year as gas demand for power generation fell sharply amid elevated energy prices.

Climate finance goal

Lammy said this alliance comes a few months before the 29th UN Clime Change Conference in Baku, where the issue of climate finance is expected to dominate talks.

"We must unlock global finance on a far, far larger scale so we can back ambitious plans for those moving away from fossil fuels," Lammy said.

Building a new global climate finance framework, known as the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance, is one of the key priorities at COP29.

The scant progress on climate finance over the years has increasingly fueled mistrust between developed and developing parties.

"COP29 will be a pivotal moment for climate finance, as parties will be called on to define a new collective goal for mitigation and adaptation that is expected to address the challenges associated with existing pledges and effectively reflect developing countries' needs to assist with increased ambition," analysts at S&P Global Commodity Insights said in a recent note.