On 19 May, UK Prime Minister Starmer and European Commission President von der Leyen will meet for their first major bilateral summit since their elections in 2024. At a time of global geopolitical instability UK and EU will aim to reset relations around a few critical joint challenges, most prominently defence and security. Cooperation on climate change and the energy transition are part and parcel to delivering UK-EU objectives on security and we expect at least some of these elements to be tackled by the summit.
The EU and UK will be looking to these three areas to support European security in a challenging geopolitical context:
Energy security
Following the recent blackouts in the Iberian Peninsula and launch of a roadmap to phase out Russian fossil fuels, energy security will be top of mind for the EU. Similarly in the UK, where the global Summit on the Future of Energy Security hosted by the IEA and UK saw Starmer and nearly all countries highlight the vital role of renewables, grids and efficiency in ensuring energy security without reliance on volatile gas imports. The summit is an opportunity to set a forward agenda on UK-EU energy transition cooperation, first by ensuring its power markets can run seamlessly and second, through commitments to a timetable and leadership track to support the fast build out of the North Seas grid and mechanisms to jointly manage the transition away from fossil fuels.
Safeguarding multilateralism
With multilateral cooperation and development budgets under strain, including climate action in the cooperation agenda provides an opportunity to maintain trust with key partners of the UK and the EU, based on shared principles within and across countries. The summit is an opportunity to visibly showcase that Europe as a whole is staying the course, aligning climate diplomacy objectives, financing the climate transition and setting concrete examples on carbon pricing cooperation. This will send a strong signal ahead of COP30, hosted by Brazil later this year, and of UK and EU-China summits in the summer.
Enhancing climate security
Climate change is a defining force of geopolitics today. It has a profound impact on global security and is a driver of crises worldwide such as shocks to supply chains and economies, famines, mass displacements, conflicts over resources, shifting power dynamics, and broad geopolitical and political foreign policy priorities. The UK has been a pioneer in including climate security in its national security approach, shaping overall NATO objectives on this. Embedding climate security into future security cooperation will significantly strengthen and elevate these efforts.
Quotes
Manon Dufour, Executive Director, E3G Brussels:
“The geopolitical context calls for UK and EU to put any residual differences aside and work together to face common challenges. As leaders chart a new path for UK-EU relations, agreeing a forward agenda for cooperation on decarbonisation and the energy transition can contribute to lasting security and competitiveness on both sides of the Channel. Strong signals from UK and EU leaders would also boost confidence in international climate cooperation, at a time when the multilateral order is under strain.”
Ed Matthew, Director, UK Programme at E3G said:
“Deepening collaboration on the transition to clean energy can help the UK & Europe to accelerate the path to energy independence and bring down energy bills. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused economic devastation across Europe by causing oil and gas prices to sky rocket. The only way for Europe to insulate against future price shocks is to move to a renewables-based energy system with strong interconnection. This summit can lay the foundations for a far more secure and affordable clean energy future.”
– ENDS –
Available for comment
EU: Manon Dufour, Executive Director, Brussels (EN, FR)
Manon.dufour@e3g.org | +32 (0) 477 76 78 01
UK: Ed Matthew – Director of the UK programme (EN)
ed.matthew@e3g.org | + 44 7827 157 906
Energy: Lisa Fischer - Director, Energy Transition (EN, FR, DE, ES),
lisa.fischer@e3g.org | +44 7710167754
Trade: Ellie Belton – Senior Policy Advisor, Trade & Climate (EN)
Ellie.belton@e3g.org | +44 (0) 7712 537878
Multilateralism: Cosima Cassel – E3G Programme Lead, Multilateral Climate Diplomacy) (EN, DE, ES)
cosima.cassel@e3g.org | m: +49 (0) 160 339 0883