The UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has annonunced plans to form a Global Clean Power Alliance to accelerate the energy transition.
Lammy (pictured) said, while some countries are moving ahead in this transition, many are getting left behind, making it impossible to decarbonise vast sectors of the economy, such as transport.
He said: “We need to accelerate the rollout of renewables across the globe in a way that this government is doing at home.
“Despite several other valuable initiatives pushing forward the energy transition, there is no equivalent grouping of countries at the vanguard of the transition, reaching across the Global North and the Global South together, dedicated to overcoming these barriers.
“So the Alliance needs to focus on scaling up global investment.
“Emerging market and developing economies outside China account for just 15% of global clean energy investment.
“The cost of capital in the Global South is often triple that in the Global North. And almost 700 million people have no access to electricity at all.
“We must unlock global finance on a far, far, larger scale, so we can back ambitious plans from those moving away from fossil fuels – as Anneliese Dodds has just been doing in Jakarta, discussing Indonesia’s Just Energy Transition Partnership, and close the clean power gap by helping more countries to leapfrog fossil fuels to renewable power systems.”
The Foreign Secretary added the Alliance should also focus on diversifying the production and supply of critical minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium and nickel, which will be “the lifeblood of the new economy”.
He said: “We need to bring these commodities to market faster. While avoiding the mistakes of the past, by helping developing countries to secure the economic benefits while promoting the highest environmental standards for mineral extraction.”
The Alliance could inject impetus into expanding grids and storage, and can increase deployment of innovative clean energy, Lammy argued.
He said: “There is huge demand for affordable clean technologies from green hydrogen to sustainable cooking and cooling. And we have got to progress commercialisation of the tech with the greatest potential.
“We will take a phased and inclusive approach to building the Alliance, listening to those leading the way on clean power and those who share our ambitions.
“But the shared goal is clear – making net zero power a reality, everywhere.”