Foreign Secretary David Lammy joined forces with Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to spearhead discussions with top British and Italian energy businesses, banks and international organisations in Rome today.
The Clean Power for Growth Roundtable took place against the historic backdrop of the Mattatoio in Rome, to galvanize global leadership and foster international cooperation on a clean energy transition, while unlocking clean growth, job opportunities and build robust clean energy supply chains, including for critical minerals.
Today’s meeting is supporting the government’s mission to become a clean energy superpower, protecting households from unstable fossil fuel markets and helping keep bills down for good, while at the same time unlocking job opportunities in the UK’s clean energy sector.
The high-profile event focused on the immense potential within the energy and financial sector to tackle climate change for the greater good of all and emphasise the urgent need for innovative solutions and collaborative efforts.
Senior representatives from the energy industry, finance, international organisations, and institutions from the UK and Italy attended the roundtable, including Centrica, Octopus Energy, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Kings Trust International, the International Energy Agency, United Nations Development Programme, Barclays, Italian energy company Eni Plenitude and Milan based cable manufacturers Prysmian.
Today’s talks, moderated by the UK’s Special Representative for Climate, Rachel Kyte, addressed three core themes:
- the need for responsible global clean power leadership
- unlocking clean growth and jobs, particularly for young people in Africa
- and action to build resilient clean power supply chains.
Foreign Secretary Lammy emphasised that a successful global clean power transition requires strong political leadership, international partnerships that deliver, a skilled workforce, and a robust supply chain.
The roundtable also highlighted the UK-Italy partnership on climate and energy, support for Italy’s G7 Energy for Growth in Africa Initiative and the UK’s leadership of the Global Clean Power Alliance. This collaboration aims to drive economic growth and jobs, create new business opportunities within the clean energy sector and establish energy systems that are more resilient.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:
The UK and Italy are strengthening our partnership to unlock growth opportunities, create jobs and accelerate the global transition to clean, secure, affordable energy, as part of our government’s Plan for Change.
The shift to clean energy is a global challenge that requires us all – governments, energy businesses and the financial sector – to work together. Our talks in Rome are a key moment to unlock clean growth and build robust clean energy supply chains, including for critical minerals – for the benefit of us all.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said:
Energy is a key driver of growth for our businesses, our economies and our societies. Italy and the United Kingdom share common objectives with regard to the energy transition, which are also clearly outlined in our 2023 Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Cooperation: technological neutrality, achieving net zero emissions by 2050, phasing out coal for energy production and increasing the role of renewables and new technologies for the production of clean energy.
We actively cooperated for the success of the CoP 26 in Glasgow, launching a major project at the 2021 pre-CoP in Milan for the involvement of young people committed to the fight against climate change. We also share the vision that inspired many initiatives promoted by Italy during its presidency of the G7, especially with regard to access to energy in Africa, where we are actively engaged also through the Mattei Plan.
His Majesty The King and Italian President Mattarella attended the end of the session and were briefed on the roundtable discussion on global progress towards clean power.
Today’s roundtable comes ahead of the UK hosting the International Energy Agency Summit on the Future of Energy Security in London on 24-25 April, bringing together energy Ministers from across the world, and further highlighting the UK’s commitment to lead global efforts to put the energy transition at the heart of our approach to energy security.
