UK's Starmer to push green energy ties on Norway trip

LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Norway on Monday where he is expected to tout a "green industrial partnership" on renewable energy and carbon capture to tackle climate change.

It comes as Starmer's new Labour government seeks ways to meet its commitments to completely decarbonise the UK's electricity production by 2030, reduce emissions by at least 81 per cent compared to 1990 levels by 2034 and become carbon-neutral by 2050.

To be formally signed in the spring, the agreement with Oslo would help Britain "seize the opportunities from a new era of clean energy, driving investment into the UK and boosting jobs both now and in the future", Starmer was cited as saying in a statement from his office.

Precise details of the partnership's contents were not made available ahead of Starmer's meeting with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store.

At the beginning of October, the Labour government announced 22 billion pounds ($28 billion) in investment over 25 years to develop carbon capture and storage on two former industrial estates in the north of England.

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage is a technology that seeks to eliminate emissions created by burning fuels for energy and from industrial processes.

The carbon is captured and then stored permanently in various underground environments.

"Our partnership with Norway will make the UK more energy secure, ensuring we are never again exposed to international energy price spikes …," said Starmer.

Quoted in the Downing Street release, Norway's Prime Minister Store hailed the agreement as "important to facilitate more green jobs both in Norway and the UK, and for advancing the green transition".

The two North Sea countries already have extensive energy ties, with Norway being one of the UK's main suppliers of gas.

Several Norwegian companies already have a strong presence in the British market.

Norwegian energy giant Equinor has partnered with BP in a number of carbon capture and storage projects in the UK, while Vagronn is also involved in a floating wind farm project in Scotland.

The UK's ambition to become "a world-leader in carbon capture" comes despite doubts over the technology's effectiveness at tackling global warming given the costs and complexity involved.

It has however been advocated by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), especially for reducing the CO2 footprint of difficult to decarbonise industries like cement and steel.