US, UK Establish Joint Action Group For Energy Security

The United States and United Kingdom are establishing a Joint Action Group for Energy Security and Affordability to accelerate the two nations’ immediate cooperation on short-term action to support energy security and affordability in the United Kingdom and across Europe.

The initiative will focus on four priority areas: Energy Efficiency and Innovative Energy Solutions, Gas Supply, Nuclear Cooperation and International Collaboration on Clean Energy.

The UK will establish a new Energy Efficiency Taskforce to reduce the UK’s energy consumption from buildings and industry by 15 percent by 2030 against 2021 levels. The £1.5 billion Help to Heat programme provides energy efficiency upgrades to low-income households, and the UK has committed an additional £6bn in energy efficiency schemes to 2028. Meanwhile, the U.S. is investing more than $30 billion in energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions for low-income communities.

U.S. will enhance LNG supply to the UK and wider European market by supporting the market conditions for security of supply, recognising the role of natural gas in ensuring near-term energy security, and in particular the significance of UK LNG import infrastructure and interconnection to wider European supply security.

The Joint Action Group will work with international partners and industry to strive to ensure LNG volumes of at least 9-10bcm over the next year via UK terminals from the U.S.

The two sides will promote civil nuclear as a safe and reliable part of the clean energy transition, and work together to deepen global collaboration between like-minded countries on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in a way that mutually benefits their respective industries.

The U.S. and the U.K. will work with G7 and G20 partners to drive forward a high ambition energy transition agenda, including in the run up to COP28, reducing the risk of future fossil fuel dependency in emerging markets and developing countries.

The Joint Action Group will be convened by a representative from the offices of the U.S. President and British Prime Minister. It will particularly focus on intensifying further commercial and scientific ties between the two countries. It will complement the existing Strategic Energy Dialogue, which is the principal mechanism for collaboration on net zero technologies, financing of nuclear projects, and multilateral initiatives.

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