Overseas Development Assistance: Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Lord Gadhia Excerpts

Tuesday 15th May 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bates]

The right reverend Prelate is absolutely right. A lot of the power stations we are talking about are of no benefit to the rural areas in which most of the poor people live because they cannot be cost-effectively connected to the grid. Therefore, solutions have to be off-grid. Energy Africa is a key part of what we are doing but, as well as that, we are launching some exciting programmes for the rural economy in Sierra Leone and there are the CDC investments in off-grid. Off-grid offers tremendous opportunities in getting power to poor people in rural areas and we will continue to invest heavily in it.

[Lord Gadhia (Non-Afl)]

Will my noble friend join me in welcoming the UK’s membership of the International Solar Alliance, which was initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announced during his recent visit to the UK? Will he also welcome the joint infrastructure fund we have created with India with the help of his department?

[Lord Bates]

I will absolutely do that. Solar offers enormous potential. Not only is it a clean energy but, as technology advances, we see the cost of solar tumbling compared to other fuel supplies. The opportunity to achieve economic growth and development and to meet our climate change obligations is immense, and we are delighted to be able to partner other countries in delivering that.