Notice

Joint declaration of cooperation on energy and climate

Published 3 November 2023

Between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany

1. Introduction

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (‘the UK’) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action of the Federal Republic of Germany (‘Germany’) acknowledge the essential role energy transition will play in their respective efforts and common goal to fight climate change. They reaffirm their commitments under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, including through delivery of the Glasgow Climate Pact of 2021, and will reduce all greenhouse gas emissions to achieve net zero by 2050 and 2045 respectively at the latest, enhance energy resilience, provide secure, safe, sustainable and affordable clean energy, in particular from renewable sources, for both countries’ consumers and support industrial and regional development.

The UK and Germany recognise the obligations and commitments of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK, and the cooperation between the countries of the North Seas Energy Cooperation and the UK on offshore renewable energy in the North Seas as expressed in the Memorandum of Understanding of December 18, 2022. This declaration will not affect any of the laws, legal obligations or duties, domestic or otherwise, applicable to the United Kingdom, or to Germany, or any of their respective international obligations. In particular, this Joint Declaration does not prevail over any of the obligations of Germany as a Member State of the European Union.

The cooperation will not involve or envisage the transfer of financial resources between the UK and Germany. Any details for the financing of a particular cooperation activity will be established jointly in writing before commencing such activity.

This declaration sets out the Countries’ intent to strengthen cooperation on their shared interests and ambitions in the following five pillars: hydrogen, Renewable Energy / North Seas (including offshore wind and electricity interconnection), carbon capture, utilisation, and storage, energy security, and net zero and green transition (including net zero strategies and policies, industrial decarbonisation, heat and buildings, energy efficiency, zero emissions vehicles, global energy transition and sectoral decarbonisation). Further details may be specified in separate specific agreements.

2. Key areas for cooperation

Hydrogen

The UK and Germany wish to further promote their friendship and strategic partnership to address climate change and accelerate the global energy transition. Acknowledging that renewable and low-carbon hydrogen and its derivatives will play an essential role in meeting global energy needs and decarbonising their industries, they intend to deepen their cooperation in the field of hydrogen, in particular from renewable sources. This cooperation will accelerate the expansion of the hydrogen economy in the UK and Germany, support the development of regional and global hydrogen markets, advance research and innovation, and further promote trade and investment opportunities in hydrogen and related industries in both markets.

This deepened collaboration on hydrogen is set out in more detail in the separate Joint Declaration of Intent on establishing a UK-Germany Hydrogen Partnership signed on 26 September 2023 in Berlin.

Renewable energy, North Seas

The UK and Germany acknowledge the crucial role of renewables roll-out, in particular in the North Seas, in delivering their domestic and global net zero targets as well as improving energy security. In this context, they will enhance their bilateral dialogue on energy transition, and encourage cooperation in the field of clean energy, notably offshore wind and electricity interconnection, including offshore hybrid interconnection. In particular regarding offshore hybrid interconnection, they will look to facilitate knowledge exchange and cooperation to accelerate deployment and alleviate barriers to deployment.

The UK and Germany will also cooperate in multilateral fora such as the North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC) to facilitate the development of offshore energy infrastructure and of appropriate cross-border market arrangements. They also recognise the value of an exchange on reforms to their domestic electricity markets to better integrate renewable energies and achieve net zero ambitions.

Carbon capture, utilisation, and storage

The UK and Germany acknowledge their shared interest in cooperating on carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) deployment. In particular, they will examine the potential and opportunities regarding cross border transport of CO2, share knowledge, discuss technical developments, and encourage industry and stakeholder cooperation.

Energy security

The UK and Germany recognise the importance of cooperation through bilateral dialogues to achieve secure energy systems and supply diversity for their energy consumers. They will explore further technical discussions between officials and transmission system operators to ensure the sharing of information, expertise, and experience, including on electricity and gas outlooks, in the spirit of solidarity.

As key players in global energy markets, they decide to continue to strengthen the existing operational coordination and explore new ways to work together to promote regional and global energy security. They recognise that every country’s decarbonisation pathway must take account of access and affordability of energy supplies. At the same time, they underline that the best and fastest way to long term energy security is through accelerating the clean energy transition, in particular from renewable sources.

Net zero and green transition

The UK and Germany decide to share their overarching net zero strategies and policy frameworks to meet their respective net zero ambitions by 2050 and 2045 and the climate governance arrangements and mechanisms they have in place to support delivery across the whole economy. That includes sharing best practices and lessons learned on key enabling net zero policies such as green finance, skills and supply chain development.

In particular, the UK and Germany decide to share best practices and lessons learned on key enabling domestic industrial decarbonisation strategies and policy frameworks, including to incentivise carbon neutral production and energy efficiency measures and encourage industry stakeholders’ cooperation.

They also decide to exchange knowledge and best practices on policy frameworks to decarbonise buildings (residential, non-residential, public-sector, social housing), while considering affordability of energy bills, along with most effective policies to increase decarbonisation of domestic energy, through clean heating and energy efficiency measures.

They recognize the importance of an accelerated transition to zero emission vehicles in delivering on shared ambitions to decarbonise their respective domestic transport sectors, and the role establishing comprehensive domestic charging infrastructure networks will play in facilitating this transition. Through existing international working groups and initiatives in which both countries are participants, they commit to continuing to share best practices and lessons learned on their policy frameworks in the transport sector with a view to furthering these objectives.

Both countries recognise that the transition to zero emission vehicles alone will not deliver the transport sector’s contribution to keeping 1.5 alive, and ambitious measures are needed across all modes of transport. To this end, and in addition to continuing to work together through other existing international transport initiatives, both countries commit to developing and implementing ambitious sectoral strategies for domestic transport decarbonisation that align with nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement.

As key players in various international fora, they decide to support and provide leadership for the global energy transition and sectoral decarbonisation agenda, including within the G7 and G20, IEA and IRENA, the UNFCCC process, and through the Breakthrough Agenda, Climate Club, Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative, Zero Emission Vehicles Transition Council, Clean Heat Forum, Energy Transition Council, Clean Energy Transition Partnership, the Clean Energy Ministerial  and the Powering Past Coal Alliance.

They reaffirm commitments made by G7 leaders including to accelerate the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels to achieve net zero in energy systems by 2050 at the latest, and to end international public support for the unabated fossil fuel energy sector except in limited circumstances that are consistent with a 1.5C warming limit, and instead prioritise international support for clean energy.

3. Areas to be monitored under the Partnership

Given the close bilateral ties between the UK and Germany on climate and considering the importance of having a cross-cutting multidisciplinary approach to deliver their common energy security, green transition and net zero ambitions, they decide to feed into existing channels where appropriate. That includes engagement structures under the UK-Germany Climate Dialogue.

As like-minded partners on the international climate agenda that are committed to the delivery of the Paris Agreement and Glasgow Climate Pact, the UK and Germany established the Climate Dialogue in January 2023 in order to align their climate work and messaging in multilateral fora – including the UNFCCC, G7 and G20 – on key topics such as mitigation, adaptation, climate finance and loss and damage. Germany and the UK are determined in their efforts to keep 1.5c alive and to ensuring that countries collectively scale up mitigation ambition and action across this critical decade. Through the Climate Dialogue, both countries are also seeking to join up their respective overseas climate networks to increase impact on the ground in third countries and further the international initiatives that both countries support.  

The UK and Germany are also partners in the field of science, research and development, and they both encourage innovation that will help increase energy security while delivering net zero commitments. They will continue to monitor progress in these areas, especially when they will have implications for any of the aforementioned areas of cooperation.

4. Delivery

In recognition of the importance of all these areas of cooperation, the UK and Germany will launch a Strategic Working Group at senior official level with the aim of meeting at least once a year. Responsibilities of the Strategic Working Group includes recommending amendments to the scope and structures of the partnership as appropriate and deciding on priorities in a yearly work plan.

The yearly work plan will be signed off at Ministerial level through an annual meeting or interaction.

The delivery of the yearly work plan will also be supported at official level by ad hoc meetings and dialogues on specific issues as required.

5. Final provisions

This declaration comes into effect from the date of its signature. It may be amended in writing at any time by mutual consent. Each country may end the cooperation under this declaration by written notice.  

Signed in two copies, in English and German. Each copy is equally valid.

London, 3 November 2023

For the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Claire Coutinho
Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

For the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany

Dr. Robert Habeck
Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action