Report

An agenda for UK–China climate cooperation

Think tank: Chatham House

Author(s): Chris Aylett; Jiangwen Guo; Antony Froggatt

January 16, 2025

This report from UK think tank Chatham House argues that climate cooperation can and should be pursued between the UK and Chinese governments.

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.