China is to snub a major UK summit on energy security next week, the Guardian has learned, amid a growing row over the country’s involvement in UK infrastructure projects.
The US will send a senior White House official to the 60-country summit, to be co-hosted with the International Energy Agency. Leading oil and gas companies are also invited, along with big technology businesses, and petrostates including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The absence of China – the world’s biggest producer of clean energy technology, and biggest emitter of greenhouse gases – is a blow to the UK, though it is likely to be privately welcomed by the US. The landmark conference, to which 60 countries have been invited, would have marked the first time the US and China had jointly attended a big international forum since Donald Trump began his trade war over tariffs last month.
Tzeporah Berman, founder of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, said: “There is no question that China not coming is a huge setback for global energy cooperation, at a critical moment in history. Trump will send a Maga climate denier to try to distort the conversation and push for increased dependency on US oil and gas, rather than a shift towards cleaner energy systems.
“China is leading the world in renewables and electric cars and their refusal to come is a clear signal that they are not going to entertain the Trump administration’s strong-arming to hold back progress.”
Robbie MacPherson, a Churchill fellow and former head of the UK’s all-party parliamentary group on climate change, said: “Transitioning away from fossil fuels requires the participation of all emitters. Engaging China is critical to ensuring action that safeguards the planet and unleashes the renewable energy age.”
The Guardian understands that China’s non-attendance is down to a diary clash on the part of its senior energy official. But it comes as Labour MPs have been pushing the government to examine the UK’s links with Chinese companies after the apparent abandonment of Scunthorpe’s steelworks by Chinese investors, while Ed Miliband, the UK energy secretary, has come under fire in sections of the media for attempting to forge closer links with China on the supply of energy technologies.
The summit on the future of energy security, to take place at Lancaster House in London next Thursday and Friday, has also been slammed by green campaigners, who fear it will be dominated by fossil fuel interests.
More than 75 countries were invited, according to an unpublished guestlist seen by the Guardian, and about 60 are likely to attend. Many leading oil and gas producers are on the list, though Russia is excluded. More than 20 developing countries have been invited, including Egypt, Barbados, Zambia and Costa Rica.
Only a handful of civil society groups were initially invited, but several more received invitations late on Monday afternoon, after the Guardian made inquiries to the government on Monday morning about their absence.
Many of the developing countries invited are those with strong oil and gas interests, such as Nigeria and Algeria, and countries beginning to exploit fossil fuels, or with large untapped reserves, such as Guyana, Senegal and Tanzania, rather than the poorest countries and those most vulnerable to the climate crisis.
Mohamed Adow, director of the Power Shift Africa thinktank, said: “It’s hugely disappointing to see the Labour government hosting a summit about energy but not inviting people who are on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Having just slashed the aid budget, leaving many of the poorest people in the world to face a perilous present and future, the UK government now neglects their presence at a major energy summit.”
Berman warned the US was likely to use the summit to push for its booming oil and gas exports. “This summit will be a showdown over whether the IEA and the UK can hold firm against fossil fuel interests and redefine energy security to mean a liberation from dependence on volatile and climate-warming fossil fuels, or chart a safer course,” she said. “The Trump administration is trying to bully its way to continued dependence on US oil and gas – the fact that no one owns the sun and wind is an existential threat to administrations that want to foster dependence and hold on to obscene record profits.”
Among the businesses invited are companies that have recently rowed back on their climate commitments, including the oil companies BP, Shell and ExxonMobil; technology companies with strong interests in AI, including Google, Amazon and Microsoft; and banks with large fossil fuel investments, including Bank of America, HSBC and Barclays.
The Guardian understands that space constraints at Lancaster House prevented more invitations. A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “As we go further and faster in delivering the clean energy transition, Britain is returning to responsible global leadership. That is why we have invited governments, businesses, academics, civil society organisations and others to be part of this dialogue.”
A spokesperson for the IEA, the global energy watchdog, said: “The ministers taking part in the summit are from countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, including countries on the frontlines of a wide range of energy challenges, such as access, affordability, reliability and climate.
“Leaders from a broad cross-section of the whole energy sector, as well as international organisations, civil society groups and beyond will also take part in the discussions in and around the summit, which will seek to build consensus on a holistic approach to energy security.”
