Published: 16 January 2025
The UK’s political relationship with China has deteriorated since the much heralded ‘golden era’ of the mid-2010s, but important technical cooperation on climate policy has continued. Joint climate action can play a central part in any recalibration of UK–China ties that emerges from the UK’s ongoing ‘audit’ of the relationship. There is a need and opportunity, too, for countries that are committed to addressing climate change to play a more influential role internationally, at a time when climate multilateralism is under severe strain.
This paper presents the case for increased UK–China climate cooperation, and identifies specific aspects of policy on which future joint work can usefully focus. Such work could offer a valuable counterpoint to the US’s expected retreat, under the second Donald Trump presidency, from constructive engagement with the climate crisis.
UK–China cooperation would draw on the two countries’ complementary climate capacities, from the UK’s expertise in carbon budgeting to China’s success in rolling out low-carbon technology at speed and at scale. The UK and China also have a long record of bilateral climate work, including research into climate risk assessment.
Given the UK’s and China’s ambitions for rapid decarbonization and climate change adaptation, and their shared respect for science- and evidence-driven environmental policymaking, climate is an area of the UK–China relationship that may remain relatively insulated from wider political tensions. The commitment to continuing bilateral collaboration on climate change that was made during the visit to Beijing by the UK chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves, in January 2025 is a positive step. As the paper argues, climate cooperation can and should be pursued irrespective of differences between the UK and Chinese governments in other areas.
