The Foreign Secretary delivered a speech at the 'Clean Energy Transition & Electrification Summit' event at COP31 in Antalya on 11 November 2026.
It is right to start with what our populations are seeing, which is more conflict across the world than at any time since World War II, climate breakdown affecting so many countries, and the cost-of-living crisis in food and fuel prices.
And the question for all countries is: do we learn the lessons of this age, or do we stick our heads in the sand?
The first and most profound lesson, and we’ve seen it with the Iran war, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is there can’t be security while you are dependent on fossil fuels, because you are subject to the fossil-fuel rollercoaster that you don’t control from geopolitical conflict.
For Britain, half of our recessions since the 1970s have been caused by fossil-fuel crises, and obviously people are being hit very hard.
Even the world’s largest fossil-fuel producer, the United States, is not immune. Vice President Vance has said the Iran war has had real effects on voters.
And what’s true for the US is even more true for fossil-fuel importers, representing 75% of the world’s population.
So, lesson one: don’t believe that fossil-fuel reliance can give us security, because the facts show otherwise.
Second, unlike in the past, there is an alternative to fossil fuels: clean-energy electrification.
I applaud the Turkish Presidency for their vision in putting this idea at the centre of COP31. And it’s right to say it’s only possible because of the extraordinary transformation we’ve seen over the last two decades in the price of clean energy.
And that’s thanks to many people around the room, public and private sectors working together. Costs are plummeting.
The UK is determined to lead by example.
We have a mission for clean power by 2030, new petrol and diesel cars phased out by 2030, and a Warm Homes Plan to electrify heating.
But we also recognise that it’s in our self-interest as a country for all countries to invest in electrification.
So we are announcing an investment of £200 million over the next four years through the Private Infrastructure Development Group, PIDG, which will help to mobilise an estimated $1 billion per year in private capital to support climate-resilient infrastructure in emerging economies across Africa and Asia.
My third and final point is the other part of the perfect storm, which is climate breakdown.
And I just want to say one very simple thing: as a Foreign Minister, this is a national security issue.
And it’s time that all Foreign Ministers, Prime Ministers, saw it as a national security issue, because whether it’s food security, infrastructure security, population displacement, these have profound national security implications.
And resilience will be very much part of our chairmanship of the G20 next year.
The final thing I’ll say: it’s very inspiring to see all of the people in this room and at this COP. Not just because it’s old friends, but because it is a sign of multilateralism: countries working together in their own interests.
And we owe it to the citizens of our countries to do this, to learn the right lessons, and to understand that electrification is the future.
We must make the era of clean-energy electrification come of age.