Thank you, Mark so much for that introduction.
And I want to thank Climate Action for hosting us here.
And I’m really excited to be part of London Climate Action Week this year – this is the biggest yet.
700 events.
Nearly 50,000 attendees.
Governments, cities, civil society, businesses, investors and trade unions from all around the world, particularly those from overseas you are so welcome to be here.
And the Climate Innovation Forum, I’m told is the headline event of the week – the Superbowl of LCAW – and I’m delighted to follow the star-studded cast of speakers you’ve heard from this morning.
And I know you have many more ahead of you this afternoon, which I think makes me the half-time show – they tried for Beyonce but they couldn’t get her so they ended up with me.
The argument I want to make today is this:
First, in the UK we are doubling down on climate action because it is the right choice for today’s generations as well as those of the future.
Climate action is how we protect our way of life and make people better off today with energy security, lower bills, good jobs and economic growth.
Second, despite the challenges, we should be determined not defeatist about the future.
Many countries are acting on this crisis because they recognise the opportunities it presents, as well as the gravity of the threat.
Third, to keep making progress on the road to COP30 and beyond we need to build the global coalition for climate action.
That means the actions and voices of the people in this room – the people delivering this transition – really really matter.
This is a fight for the future involving civil society, trade unions, businesses, and the public at large.
And we intend to win it.
So first, just to say something about the UK, the starting point for our government here is our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower by delivering clean power, a clean energy system, by 2030 and accelerating to net zero across the economy.
Our Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says this mission is in our government’s DNA.
And why does he say that?
Because we know the urgency of the threat to our way of life.
In the last decade we’ve had the 10 hottest years on record globally.
We should be clear what this means here and around the world:
Floods, heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires.
Over the last week in this country, we’ve seen much hotter weather than was normal a few decades ago as many of you will have experienced.
Communities across the UK are already facing the consequences of flooding, including last year.
And we have seen thousands of heat-related deaths in recent summers.
So the urgency of the climate imperative is clearer than ever.
But that urgency is not the only reason to act.
It has now been matched by the urgency of an energy security and bills imperative.
Here in the UK, family finances, business finances and the public finances were hit after Russia invaded Ukraine and fossil fuel prices rocketed. And we’ve seen in recent weeks that instability globally breeds instability in the energy markets here at home.
So ours as a government is a hard-headed determination to get off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets with cheaper, clean, homegrown energy that we control. This is an essential part of the argument to make for climate action and energy security that’s not just true for Britain, it’s true for many countries around the world.
And that’s not the only argument you can make.
There is also a once in a generation opportunity to create a new generation of good, well-paid jobs with strong trade unions and give existing industries a long-term future.
And in the UK if you’ll allow me again, it is an incredibly exciting time – we recently had our Spending Review which set spending budgets for the coming three years. Our Chancellor Rachel Reeves showed her commitment with the most significant investment in homegrown clean energy in the UK’s history.
We’ve got the biggest nuclear building programme in a generation.
With Sizewell C on the Suffolk coast.
Small Modular Reactors with Rolls Royce.
On the site of an old coal-fired power station, a new prototype nuclear fusion plant at West Burton in Nottinghamshire.
Britain’s carbon capture industry, I know there’ll be people here from the carbon capture industry, in Scotland and Humberside, alongside Teesside and the North West.
A new regional hydrogen network for transport, storage, industry and power.
Our new publicly owned energy company Great British Energy supporting clean energy supply chains from offshore wind to cable manufacturing.
A Warm Homes Plan upgrading millions of homes across Britain – delivering jobs as we cut bills and emissions.
And investing in tree planting, peatlands and nature recovery across our countryside and towns.
And the reason I say this is that this is relevant not just to the UK but also to people here from other parts of the world.
Place by place.
Town by town.
City by city.
This is the sound of the jobs of the future arriving.
This is how we as a government intend to win the argument for the clean energy revolution.
And together with you we will make it happen.
The second point I want to make is that, while our ambition is to lead at home it is also in our national interest to lead globally.
The UK is less than 1% of annual emissions.
But for this government, this is not an excuse for inaction but an imperative to work with other countries.
The UK passed the world leading Climate Change Act in 2008 when I was last Energy Secretary and now nearly 60 countries across the world have similar legislation.
That is the power, I believe, of example.
And I say to everyone in this room it’s time, if I can say this gently, to talk about the progress we have made together as a world as well as how far we have to travel.
Of course, we should be deeply alarmed about the scale of the climate crisis.
And we must acknowledge that we are way off track from where we need to be as a world.
But we should not be defeatist because look at the progress we have already made.
And the reason I say this, and I’ll talk about the progress in a minute, is because the challenge we face is no longer just responding to people who deny the problem of the climate crisis or the people wanting to delay action, but also those who say:
“There’s no point in acting because people have been talking about this for decades and nothing ever seems to change.”
We have a duty to explain the reasons for hope not despair.
And let me just give you some examples of why I think we can do that. Ahead of the Paris Agreement in 2015, the projections were for up to 4 degrees of warming. Actually, in 2010, up to 5 degrees.
Today, these estimates are no longer credible because the world has moved.
In 2015 when the Paris Agreement was negotiated no major economy had a net zero target, now 80% of global GDP is covered by net zero commitments.
At the time of Paris the majority of energy investment was in fossil fuels, last year over $2 trillion was invested in clean energy – twice as much as fossil fuels.
That is the progress we have made.
And I say this very directly, if we don’t talk about that progress, nobody else is going to – we have a duty to do so.
But we know how much further we have to travel. So as a country, the UK is determined to lead with the power of example again.
COP30 is now less than five months away and we haven’t got a moment to waste.
Every organisation represented in this room has a role to play.
Governments in providing direction and leadership.
Businesses in driving action in the real economy.
Investors in helping unlock the finance we need.
Trade unions and civil society in holding us all to account. And that’s a really important role.
A whole economy effort.
Working together across borders.
Global North and Global South.
And I pledge the UK will play our part.
That is why the Prime Minister announced an ambitious, 1.5 aligned NDC of 81% reductions by 2035 at COP29 last year.
That is why we are helping to scale climate finance, including through our Global Clean Power Alliance.
And today here at the Guildhall I can announce another step forward.
We will take the next steps on implementing our manifesto commitment on mandatory 1.5 degrees-aligned transition plans for major companies and financial institutions.
Today we are launching consultations on how transition planning and sustainability reporting can ensure public and private investors drive our country and the world towards climate and clean energy. For those of you who don’t work in this space, this is incredibly important. If we can get private finance driving in the right direction, not just in the UK, across the world including the Global South, we can make a real difference.
And I believe, speaking from the City of London, it is time to mobilise the City of London, secure its place, which it already has, as the sustainable finance capital of the world and drive private investment into clean energy.
The right thing for Britain and the right thing to do for the world.
Let me just end with this:
We obviously live in uncertain and unstable times.
All of us in this room are very aware of the challenge to the agenda we are talking about today.
But I want to end by saying to everyone here today, every one of whom can make a difference, we don’t just have a choice we have a duty to choose hope over despair.
There are many people in our country and our world who see the climate and nature crisis affecting their lives but have no power in their hands to make a difference. All of us in this building have the power in our different ways to make a difference.
Pessimism is a luxury we cannot afford.
To despair, to step back, to lose confidence would be to let down the people who depend on us—today and in future generations.
Despair and defeatism will not create a single job or protect a single person from the effects of the climate crisis.
And turning our back on action would not only be a betrayal of future generations but today’s generations too.
Now there are those in Britain who would turn their backs on the opportunities of the clean energy transition and what it can do for energy security, good jobs and doing the right thing by future generations.
The UK government, I pledge to you, will face down these defenders of a failed status quo in our country and merchants of misinformation.
And the way we will do this is show how together we can ensure better lives for people today and protect future generations.
Governments, civil society, businesses, trade unions.
This is the coalition, all of you, that gives me the greatest cause for hope about the future.
I thank you so much for being in London. And I look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead to do great things for our country and great things for the world.
Thank you so much.