BEIJING: After promising to press Chinese officials on China’s emissions as well as contentious subjects like Hong Kong and forced labor, English energy secretary Ed Miliband met with them in Beijing on Monday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has attempted to bolster relations with China since taking office in July despite concerns over safety and human rights violations.
China, the second-largest economy in the world, is also a clean energy superpower and has a goal of reaching net zero by 2060, despite having the highest greenhouse gas emissions.
The UK has committed to fully decarbonizing by 2050 and has increased the shift to clean energy sources, which it claims will aid in boosting its sluggish economy.
For the China-UK Energy Dialogue, which London described as the first of normal” climate change discussions between both countries moving forwards, Miliband and Wang Hongzhi, mind of Beijing’s National Energy Administration, met on Monday.
At Beijing’s elaborate Great Hall of the People, he also spoke with Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang.
Miliband is the second secretary in Starmer’s case to travel to China, and he stated in the Guardian newspapers last week that he will use the journey to “urge continued actions from China… to address the climate emergency.”
” I believe it is deplorable to today’s and upcoming generations to no engage China in this matter,” he wrote.
China missed a crucial 2024 climate goal, according to official data next month, and coal’s emissions increased marginally as coal remained prominent despite record green additions.
According to researchers, the numbers indicate that China is off-track on a crucial responsibility under the Paris climate agreement.
After closing its next coal-fired power station last month, London has stated that it will share its “expertise on phasing out fuel” with China.
Miliband added that he would raise concerns about “forced labor in supply bars” and Russia’s war of Ukraine, which Beijing has always condemned, as well as rights abuses in Hong Kong and the treatment of the Uyghur majority.
” Debate may be a justification for disengagement,” Miliband argued.
The power minister also intends to meet with Chinese counterparts in London later this year to resume proper climate dialogue, as the UK intends to play a major role in global climate cooperation.
He wrote,” This is about protecting the American people now and for generations to come.”
