UK - US Strategic Energy Dialogue: joint statement
Published 19 May 2022
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Washington, D.C.
19 May 2022
The second meeting of the UK-US Strategic Energy Dialogue was held today in Washington, D.C., chaired by UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Secretary of State Kwasi Kwarteng and US Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer M Granholm. Announced by Prime Minister Johnson and President Biden on 10 June 2021, the Strategic Energy Dialogue is the primary bilateral forum to enhance and expand cooperation in support of UK and US shared energy security and resilience objectives, clean energy and net zero ambitions, and joint leadership priorities in multilateral energy forums. As a part of this effort, the BEIS and DOE also met with industry leaders to discuss opportunities for increased collaboration between the UK and US on civil nuclear energy.
Energy security and resilience
Secretary of State Kwarteng and Secretary Granholm agreed on the need to address the energy needs of today through our shared energy security and system resilience while also reaffirming the need for sustained leadership and coordinated effort to support global energy market stability and reliability. Both countries noted successful joint efforts to stabilize global energy markets, including through their leadership the two largest International Energy Agency (IEA) collective oil releases in history. They noted both governments’ decisions to end dependence on Russian oil and petroleum products and committed to supporting European partners’ and allies’ efforts to reduce their reliance on Russian energy in response to President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Both governments discussed efforts to enhance supply chain security and the importance of secure and affordable critical minerals and materials in support of the clean energy transition.
Clean energy transition and net zero
The chairs reviewed progress in developing and deploying clean energy technologies in their respective economies focusing on offshore wind, nuclear power, and critical supply chains. Both sides also discussed the potential for future collaboration on offshore wind research and development. The chairs agreed that bilateral cooperation was critical to ensure UK and US global leadership in the transition to a more sustainable and clean global economy to address the climate crisis. Secretary of State Kwarteng and DOE Deputy Secretary David Turk met with UK and US civil nuclear power industry leaders to identify opportunities for the accelerated deployment of advanced nuclear power technologies. Both governments reiterated their support for nuclear power as a safe, reliable and essential component of their current and future energy mix and discussed collaboration on small modular reactor technologies.
Multilateral energy forum leadership
The chairs reaffirmed their commitment to implementing cooperation over the coming years following the successful conclusion of COP26 last November in Glasgow. They look forward to practical, concrete, and substantive outcomes from this year’s numerous multilateral energy and climate forums – from the concluded IEA Ministerial to the upcoming G7 and G20 to the Clean Energy Ministerial / Mission Innovation Ministerial meetings to the 5th International Atomic Energy Agency Nuclear Power Ministerial Conference to COP27 – and exchanged views on how to coordinate efforts. Both chairs committed to promoting enhanced international cooperation in multilateral forums to meet the goals of the Breakthrough Agenda.
UK Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said:
The UK and US are determined to utilise the strength of our unique relationship through the Energy Dialogue to help European countries end their reliance on Russian oil and gas, and to strengthen collaboration on new nuclear power and clean energy technologies.
Cooperation with friends is crucial if we are to ensure secure, affordable and sustainable energy. We are determined to partner with like-minded allies to curb Russia’s influence on global gas and oil markets as the West races to become more energy self-sufficient by generating more clean, home-grown power for our people.
We also discussed the role British and American companies will play in investing in growing our economies and steps we need to take to ensure secure supply chains and critical minerals.
US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said:
The United States and the United Kingdom have formed strong bonds over our shared efforts to meet strategic challenges and global risks. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created new challenges for energy security, affordability, and resilience. And while these challenges have demanded immediate action to calm energy markets, they have ultimately underscored the imperative for our clean energy transition. Today’s conversation has made clear that we are committed to pressing forward with an urgency on our sustained plans for a clean energy transition.