Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many fossil fuel extraction projects the Department has allocated funding to through the private infrastructure development group; when funding was allocated to each of those projects; and how much funding was allocated.

DFID invests in the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) to improve access to critical infrastructure services for people in the poorest regions of Africa and Asia – in sectors such as power, communications, transport and water.

PIDG has no active investments in any fossil fuel extraction projects. PIDG does not invest in the exploration, extraction or refining of oil, natural gas or liquid petroleum gas.

In 2004, PIDG did provide one-off funding of $500,000 (£273,000) for technical assistance to the Government of Mozambique on the feasibility of establishing a coal mine in the town of Moatize in Mozambique. PIDG’s strategy now rules out any investing in coal.