UK’s clean power push ‘route to energy security’, says Ed Miliband

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has told global energy ministers and company bosses that the UK’s clean power push is about security as much as fighting climate change.

Speaking at a global energy security summit in London, he also read out a message from King Charles which said green energy would make countries’ power systems “more resilient and secure”.

Mr Miliband told delegates: “As long as energy can be weaponised against us, our countries and our citizens are vulnerable and exposed.”

“Our vision of low carbon power goes well beyond the climate imperative,” he said.

“Ours is a hard-headed approach to the role of low carbon power as a route to energy security.”

He added: “Low carbon energy can play a critical role in delivering energy security for many countries around the world, and it presents a solution to the issue of energy security that simply wasn’t true a decade-and-a-half ago.”

Mr Miliband was speaking at the two-day summit in London co-hosted by the Government and the International Energy Agency.

The Government is using the summit to push its net zero plans on the international stage at a time when the US, which has sent delegates to the event, is turning its back on the green transition.

Ministers from Australia, France, Italy, Germany, Japan and other countries are set to attend, as well as bosses from oil majors BP, ExxonMobil and Shell.

China, the world’s biggest producer of clean energy but also the biggest carbon emitter, is not set to take part.

Mr Miliband shared a message from King Charles with delegates, which described the summit as “vital”.

He said: “I will share with you the following message from His Majesty the King that he has asked me to read out to you all, because this summit is something that he was really interested in.”

Quoting Charles, Mr Miliband said: “As we all navigate the transition to cleaner energy for our planet and energy security for our citizens, summits such as these are vital for facilitating shared learning between nations, particularly those in the global south and across the Commonwealth.

“Events over recent years have shown that when well-managed, the transition to more sustainable energy sources can itself lead to more resilient and secure energy systems.

“While each country will follow an individual path, there are many shared challenges and opportunities on which we can work together as partners.”

Labour has pledged to decarbonise the power grid by 2030, mainly by building vast amounts of new wind and solar farms across the UK and off its shores.

It also launched publicly-owned energy company Great British Energy last year in a bid to spur more developers and investors to invest in clean power in the UK.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer today said he would fast track £300 million of GB Energy’s £8.3 billion funding over the next five years for offshore wind supply chains.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said global economies are “interdependent” and “interconnected” in the green energy transition.

Speaking at an international energy security summit in London, he said: “Every economy has its own pathway for energy. We should understand and respect it.

“However, dear colleagues, no country small or big is an energy island.

“We are interdependent and through many ways, through energy prices… through technology innovation… we are interconnected.

“So lasting solutions to energy security goes through cooperation. I say cooperation, it is in fact the reason we host this meeting today.”