Sir Keir Starmer promised to “stand up for our values and our future” at the UN Cop30 summit as he hailed a series of new investment deals for clean power in the UK.
The Prime Minister will pitch the UK as a world leader on climate action at the gathering in Belem, Brazil, where he will use a speech to make the economic case for green energy on Thursday.
It comes as Downing Street announced new investment from companies including Scottish Power, JERA Nex bp and EnBW for offshore wind and battery storage projects across Britain.
Sir Keir said: “It’s full speed ahead in our mission to bring about the clean power revolution – delivering energy security, getting bills down for good and generating growth in communities across the UK.
“Creating skilled, well-paid jobs across Great Yarmouth, Belfast and Greater Manchester, this is national renewal in action – championing the interests of working people all over the country.
“I won’t let down future generations. At Cop30 I will continue to show UK leadership on the world stage to work with others to stand up for our values and our future.”
The Prime Minister will be joined at the summit by William and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband after attending the Prince of Wales’ Earthshot Prize ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.
He is expected to have more than one bilateral meeting with counterparts, though it was unclear on Wednesday who he would be coming face to face with as teams seek to carve out time during the one-day visit.
There is speculation that the Prime Minister’s trip has been driven in part by the electoral threat of the Green Party, which has been gaining momentum in recent months.
No 10 sources strenuously reject that framing, pointing out that Sir Keir was one of the only G7 leaders to join the summit last year and also attended while he was leader of the opposition.
Meanwhile, under investment deals announced through No 10 on Thursday:
– The Port of East Anglia will receive £15 million as part of a wider £28 million upgrade to build a new operations centre, with Scottish Power supporting the East Anglia TWO windfarm in the North Sea, No 10 said.
– JERA Nex bp and EnBW have committed £100 million to Belfast Harbour to support the delivery of two offshore wind farms in the Irish Sea, which the Government estimates could create more than 300 jobs.
– Carrington in Greater Manchester will host one of the UK’s largest battery sites, with Statera Energy confirming a final investment decision on a 680MW storage system.
Downing Street estimates the deals will support around 600 jobs across the North West, Great Yarmouth and Belfast.
Mr Miliband hailed clean energy as “the engine of Britain’s economic renewal” and said Thursday’s investments “will give a generation of young people well-paid skilled work”.
“The UK’s message to the world at Cop30 is simple: working together to tackle climate change is the route to good jobs, energy security and economic growth – let’s get on with it,” he said.
However, Britain will not be investing in the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) – a key fund proposed by Brazil to protect global rainforests – as Chancellor Rachel Reeves grapples with balancing the books in the run-up to the Budget.
Cop30 host nation Brazil wants to launch the scheme, which would provide financial backing to countries preserving tropical biomes, at this year’s summit in Belem, a city gateway to the Amazon basin.
Britain played a key role in establishing the TFFF alongside Brazil and has been named as a potential investor nation along with Germany, the United Arab Emirates, France and Norway.
But the Treasury reportedly questioned the cost of backing the scheme amid financial pressures ahead of a difficult autumn statement on November 26 in which the Chancellor is widely expected to raise taxes.
Downing Street said the Government would continue to support the initiative and explore ways to “bring the full weight of the UK private finance sector” behind the scheme through the City.
Asked on Wednesday whether Britain was simply too poor to take part, the No 10 official replied: “That’s not what I said… we have a Budget at the end of this month and growth domestically and raising living standards are our full focus.”
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister told sixth formers on a visit to No 10 that he was attending Cop30 because of the “obligation we undoubtedly have to safeguard the planet for generations to come, but also hundreds of thousands of jobs in this country”.
He said: “I hope we can make a real success of it, for our country, our planet, and for you”.
His comments come amid the splintering of consensus on climate action both in the UK and globally, as well as growing concerns about the effectiveness of the multilateral process.
Labour came into Government pledging to remove almost all fossil fuels from the UK’s electricity supply by 2030, as part of efforts to secure energy supplies, curb bills, boost investment and tackle climate change.
But the agenda has faced significant pushback from the Conservatives and Reform UK, who have pledged to ditch “expensive” net zero policies and repeal climate legislation.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump vowed to “unleash” oil and gas drilling as he pulled the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter out of the 2015 UN Paris Agreement to limit dangerous global warming.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who has claimed net zero is “impossible” by 2050, called on the Prime Minister to reverse the Government’s course of action, including by abandoning the commitment to ban new oil and gas licences in the North Sea.
“Enough is enough. Keir Starmer must find the backbone to ditch Ed Miliband’s net zero fanaticism, which is forcing up bills and driving away industry,” she said on Wednesday.
“If the Labour Government fails to act, we could be witness to the end of our domestic energy security as we know it.”
