Speeches by Miliband.

“There are two things. First, it is important not to forget that this is the year when countries will submit their nationally determined contributions for 2035. This will tell us how far off track from 1.5o we are going into the future. I am going to India next month and I am already in touch with the new Brazilian pres…”

“There is a separate discussion, separate from the COP process, about how we can work with the European Union for our economic benefit, including in these areas on energy. However, the reality of the negotiations is that it is crucial that we work incredibly closely with the EU.”

“It is a good point. Wopke Hoekstra, the EU representative at the talks, and I worked closely, along with John Podesta, the US envoy, and Brazil, the future hosts of COP30. Where these talks have succeeded best is when you have developed countries that want ambition, or blocs of countries, working with the vulnerable an…”

“The truth about this on China is that there is no solution to the climate crisis without China, because it represents such a huge level of global emissions now. This is the point that my US friends, Democrats and Republicans, make. Therefore, of course part of what we have to do as a UK Government is work with China, a…”

“My position is that we want as many countries as possible in the Paris agreement. It is important to say something, though, about the atmosphere at COP29. I know that some members of the Committee will have been there. This is an unstoppable transition. This is genuinely an unstoppable transition because countries reco…”

“Chair, this is genuinely a non-issue. People around the world recognise that the UK is going into this with a very ambitious agenda, including on fossil fuels.”

“We will write to you about it.”

“That is not what we do, that is not what we go into the negotiations to do. Let me say in this context that we are a Government that committed in our manifesto to new licences to explore new fields. This is a world-leading position. I don't think that there is any doubt about UK leadership on this question.”

“I do not know. I can write to the Committee about that. I am not aware of that. I would be very surprised if we were doing that, very surprised.”

“I had not heard that. The truth is that there are some people who come as part of our team as civil servants and there are other people who get passes via the UK.”

“I am not aware of that.”

“I will answer this at two levels. First, people might wonder what impact the Prime Minister announcing an ambitious target has. The impact that it has is that the power of example really matters in these negotiations, giving you the authority to negotiate for ambition. Let me unpack that. When we passed the Climate Cha…”

“It would not be diplomatic for me to talk about individual countries in this context. The point that I was going to make was that the centre ground of these negotiations does want ambition. If you think about small island states that are in danger of disappearing, so many developing countries that are worried about the…”

“I agree with that. These things tend to go in cycles. COP28 represented quite unexpected progress, and the UAE presidency deserves a lot of credit for that, for having driven it forward on the transition away from fossil fuels. However, saying that is one thing, operationalising it is another. It is interesting because…”

“The transition away from fossil fuels is the hardest yards of these negotiations, because you are asking countries to change the way our economies have been run for 200 years.”

“Correct.”

“The specifics of this—which is a debate we will have in the run-up to COP30 in Brazil—is how we take forward the UAE consensus and the global stocktake. In particular there is a lot of interest in paragraph 28, which is about the transition away from fossil fuels and the trebling of renewables by 2030. The feeling of d…”

“The way we put it is that we can only have energy security at home if we become a clean energy superpower. That is in the interests of today’s generations. However, the truth is that we can only have climate security for future generations if we act with others. It is important to say as a starting point that we are 1%…”

“Thank you very much, Chair. It is great to be with you today. The EAC plays an important role in scrutiny and accountability of Government and has done over the years, so I look forward to working with you. We lead the Government’s Clean Energy Superpower Mission in DESNZ. It is a foundation for our work at home and ab…”

“I am the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and it is great to be with you today. On my right I have Lee McDonough, who is the Director General for Net Zero, Nuclear and International in my Department, and Matt Toombs, who is the Director for International Climate.”