Kwarteng replaces Sharma as BEIS secretary

Kwasi Kwarteng has been promoted to secretary of state for the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) after Alok Sharma quit the role to oversee the COP26 climate change summit full time.

Kwarteng will be replaced as minister of state for energy and climate change by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who was secretary of state for international development before that department was scrapped last year.

BEIS announced today (8 January) that Sharma will be dedicating himself exclusively to the COP presidency, which he has combined with being BEIS secretary for the past year.

Kwarteng takes on the role after nearly a year and a half as minister of state for energy, during which period he launched the much delayed Energy White Paper.

Trevelyan will remain in her current role as the UK’s international champion on adaptation and resilience for the COP26 presidency.

The UN summit, which is due to take place in Glasgow in November, is widely seen as a pivotal event for taking forward the Paris climate change agreement to curb the growth of greenhouse gas emissions.

Commenting on Kwarteng’s appointment, RenewableUK’s chief executive Hugh McNeal said: “We’re absolutely delighted that such a strong and passionate advocate for renewable energy has stepped up to the very top of his department as Secretary of State.

“Kwasi Kwarteng has championed renewable energy indefatigably in his role as energy minister, engaging with us constantly on how to ramp up the deployment of onshore and offshore wind and innovative technologies like floating wind, tidal stream and wave power and renewable hydrogen, so we can reach net-zero emissions as fast and as cheaply as possible.”

Richard Black, senior associate at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: “Allowing Alok Sharma to focus full-time on his COP26 role is a sensible decision, not least as it signals the Government’s commitment to ensuring that the summit is a success.

“Being president of COP26 needs a full-time focus, but Mr Sharma will also need the full backing of Number 10 and other key parts of government, such as the foreign office. Although the pandemic makes a tough job even more challenging, the government should focus squarely on building diplomatic alliances as the French did ahead of the successful Paris summit, including with the smallest and least developed nations whose support will be critical for achieving a positive summit outcome.”

Nick Molho, executive director at the Aldersgate Group, said: “The UK has an important role to play as the host of COP26 to drive international ambition to tackle climate change. It is therefore welcome to see Alok Sharma MP taking on the role of COP26 president full-time to focus on this vital agenda. Having hosted the Climate Ambition Summit at the end of December, now is the time to build further international commitments to deliver the increase in global emission reduction targets that climate science is urgently calling for.”