Britain advances climate action and energy security on the global stage
The Cable | No. 17.2025
Welcome to the 40th Cable, our weekly roundup of British foreign and defence policy.
The death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday brought world leaders to Rome, both to pay their respects but also to carry out diplomacy in the hallways of the Vatican. Of particular note was the meeting between Donald Trump, President of the United States (US), and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine; their first meeting since the infamous clash in the White House in February. A rapprochement of sorts between the two presidents has led to the signing of the so-called mineral deal on 1st May, which could result in new American military assistance for Ukraine. However, a ceasefire deal remains elusive, with Kyiv and Moscow unlikely to agree to stop fighting anytime soon. It is up to the United Kingdom (UK) and its European allies to make sure Zelenskyy is in the best possible position for the next round of negotiations.
Welcome back to The Cable!
Energy security is now at the heart of government policy
1st May will see Britain face the hottest start to the month on record, with forecasters predicting temperatures to be around 7°C to 11°C higher than the average at this time of year. Meanwhile, last month, British households were hit by rising energy bills with the resulting increase meaning that the public is now paying on average £600 a year more for their energy than before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. These two stories highlight the centrality of energy security and climate change to the UK’s national interests.
It is therefore unsurprising that His Majesty’s (HM) Government has placed tackling both these issues at the heart of its Plan for Change, and that last week Britain hosted the International Summit on the Future of Energy Security in London, which was attended by delegates from over 50 countries, including from the US and the European Union (EU).
In his opening speech to the summit, Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, stated that ‘in an unstable and uncertain world, there can be no national or international security without energy security.’ His speech also highlighted the risks which being a net energy importer raises in this more competitive world:
...as long as energy can be weaponised against us, our countries and our citizens are vulnerable and exposed. It is for this reason that energy security is also at the heart of economic security – because it is central to living standards, job creation and economic growth.
Since coming to power last July, Labour has stated its intention to be a global climate leader, from pushing for a 95% clean electricity grid by 2030 to launching the UK-led Global Clean Power Alliance last year to support global adoption of green technologies. In his speech to the delegation, Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister, doubled down on his support for the energy transition, stating:
This government is acting now, with a muscular industrial policy, to seize the opportunities [in low-carbon technology] to boost investment, build new industries, drive UK competitiveness and unlock export opportunities. That is the change we need. We won’t wait – we will accelerate.
The Prime Minister is correct, as according to the Confederation of British Industry, the UK’s Net Zero economy is ‘booming’, with the green sector growing three times faster than the overall UK economy. And now, with the US rolling back its climate commitments, there is an opportunity for Britain to step into the breach and claim a leading role on the global stage.
Key diplomacy
Sir Keir held talks with a number of world leaders in the past week, which included:
The Prime Minister met with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, on 24th April. The two discussed key issues facing the EU and UK, including continuing support for Ukraine, energy security, defence cooperation and the global economy. They also focused on the ongoing negotiations for a UK-EU partnership, to deliver an ‘ambitious package’ at the first UK-EU summit next month.
Sir Keir spoke with Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, on 25th April. The Prime Minister gave his condolences to Modi for the terrorist attack which took place in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on 22nd April.
On 26th April, Sir Keir held a meeting with Zelenskyy while in Rome to attend the Pope’s funeral. The pair discussed recent diplomatic efforts to secure a lasting peace in Ukraine. They also agreed to work closely with international partners to drive the next stage of negotiations forwards.
David Lammy, Foreign Secretary, flew to Oman and Qatar last week to expand cooperation with Gulf countries on trade, defence and security. In his first official visit to Oman, Lammy celebrated 225 years of government-to-government relations in Muscat, and discussed with Omani government representatives how best to advance shared efforts for green, sustainable growth and enhance cooperation on regional security challenges. In Qatar, Lammy discussed Britain’s commitment to boosting trade and development via the UK-Qatar Strategic Dialogue with key members of the Qatari government. While in both nations, Lammy also pursued further progress on the Free Trade Agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which has the potential to increase British trade with the bloc by up to 16%.
On 28th April, Politico reported on a leaked draft of a ‘new strategic partnership’ between London and Brussels, focused on supporting free and open trade. This document is believed to be part of the broader negotiations between Britain and EU in the run up to the 19th May UK-EU summit. In recent months, HM Government has been busy negotiating with the EU to streamline trade policy and boost cooperation in areas such as defence and energy security.
Defence
The British Army has announced new military capabilities to bolster the armed services:
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has stated its intent to create a new Gurkha Brigade, The King’s Gurkha Artillery (KGA), which will operate within the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Over the next four years, 400 Gurkha personnel will join the KGA and be trained on the Archer and Light Gun artillery systems. In the future, they will also train on the remote-controlled Howitzer 155 artillery system.
In response to a Parliamentary Written Question, Maria Eagle, Minister for Defence Procurement, confirmed that the British Army has received 100 Ajax armoured vehicles as of April 2025, with the programme on track to achieve Initial Operating Capability (IOC) – reaching over 180 operationally deployable vehicles – by the end of the year.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff, gave oral evidence to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry on 28th April on the British Armed Forces Equipment Plan 2023 to 2033. Sir Tony stated that the Armed Forces are shrinking by around 200-300 personnel per month, but that this decrease is starting to reverse. Going into further detail, he stated that the Royal Navy numbers have stabilised and are starting to rise, the Royal Air Force is ‘reasonably stabilised’ and the army remains on a ‘downwards trajectory’. Sir Tony affirmed that ongoing reforms to recruitment and retention policies will help to stem the decline in the armed forces, saying ‘the forecast is that [the decrease] will bottom out and we will start to rise across the whole of the armed forces in the next two [to] three years’.
Last week, BAE Systems and Norway’s Umoe Mandal signed a new collaboration agreement aimed at expanding joint maritime efforts, including plans to co-develop a new Littoral Strike Craft and ‘composite structures for the Type 26 frigates’. This announcement is the latest step in the deepening of UK-Norway security ties and could lead to Norway adopting the Type 26 as its future frigate.
Environment and climate
HM Government has announced that it will fast track £300 million of public investment into domestic offshore wind supply chains through Great British Energy to attract private investment into the green energy sector. This follows recent announcements of reforms to the permitting process, prioritising grid connections for businesses which will deliver clean energy and energy infrastructure across the country.
How Britain is seen overseas
Bruegel published a policy brief arguing that financial services should be part of the ongoing UK-EU negotiations, stating that both sides should use the reset to ‘protect financial stability, withstand transatlantic turmoil and help their respective economies thrive.’ The article suggests a number of recommendations to align their financial services sectors in a more contested global trade environment, ensuring a more effective, stable and cooperative relationship which benefits both parties.
How competitors frame Britain
TASS interviewed Nikolay Patrushev, Russian presidential aide and Russian Maritime Board Chairman, in which he stated his belief that the UK is ‘...eager to gain a foothold in the Black Sea region.’ Patrushev goes on to claim that Britain has ‘already established an “anti-mine coalition” and now plans to escort merchant vessels with ships of its Royal Navy’ ensuring the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) continuous presence in the Black Sea. Patrushev clearly forgot that the reason there is a need for an anti-mine coalition is because Russia laid said mines.
Russia Today reported on an interview with Sergey Naryshkin, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia (SVR), where he claimed that Britain could stage a ‘provocation against Russia’, adding that the SVR is well aware of ‘London’s covert hostile activities aimed at Russia’. He went on to up the ante by stating that Britain could ‘deploy chemical weapons in Ukraine to frame Russia as the perpetrator’. No surprises here: just the usual rantings of the Kremlin, although Naryshkin should remember that it is in fact Russia which has used radiological and nerve agents against dissidents in the UK.
The British Steel plant at Scunthorpe was reportedly only hours away from decommissioning one of its blast furnaces when union members physically prevented its Chinese managers from entering the plant. After that the government had to scramble for a week to get the situation under control: while Parliament passed legislation in a day, civil servants were dispatched to find stocks of coking coal at Immingham. Once the plant was saved, the government rescinded threatened redundancies.
All these outcomes are welcome, but it is no way to run Britain’s critical national infrastructure (CNI). At a wider level, as the American tariff war bites into growth and corporate profitability, adding friction to all free and open nations’ economic relationships with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), we are likely to see the same set of problems writ large in other vital sectors.
The French government, for example, has already reduced EDF’s stake in the Sizewell C nuclear power plant, and is pushing for the UK to take on the financial burden of cost overruns both there and at Hinkley Point C, where a Chinese company owns a minority stake.
Northumbrian Water, Thames Water and Heathrow Airport are other parts of critical national infrastructure with significant Chinese stakes. Much of the science excellence achieved in UK universities, meanwhile, now rests on collaboration with researchers in the PRC and with those resident here.
Under the 2010-2024 Conservative government, the Cabinet Office conducted an unpublished review of CNI, which left ministers reportedly alarmed at the UK’s resilience. Steel, of course, does not officially count towards CNI.
As part of the new National Security Strategy, HM Government should move from an ‘inventory’ approach to national infrastructure towards one based on actively promoting its resilience. There is no need to remove Chinese ownership stakes on principle: but with the Chinese stakeholders at Hinkley Point C reportedly ending new funding, there should be contingency plans for all eventualities.
In an age of geopolitical rivalry, where even the US is exerting economic pressure on the UK, policymakers need agile institutions capable of assuming control and ownership of stressed assets rapidly, and legal powers to prevent sabotage. In Securonomics: The contribution of a Defence Industrial Strategy, the Council on Geostrategy advocated the creation of a defence policy bank, modelled on the British Business Bank. The time for this, and other tools of intervention, is coming.
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