Environment Protection: Private Sector

(asked on 16th March 2022) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking with international counterparts to protect global populations from damage caused by negligent exploitation of natural resources by private companies.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 24th March 2022

Good governance is essential if national economies and local communities in developing countries are to benefit from the exploitation of natural resources, such as mineral reserves and timber. This is necessary to ensure that revenues from natural resources are invested to support education, health and economic development and to ensure that natural resources provide jobs and benefits to local communities. For example, in the forest sector, the UK supports efforts to tackle illegal logging and promote trade in legal timber in global timber markets. UK support provided through the Forest Governance, Markets and Climate programme (£280 million, 2011-23) ensures that illegal timber is eliminated from supply chains in countries with valuable forest resources, that the rights of local forest-dependent communities are respected and that companies in the timber industry are held accountable for their actions.

The UK also works to promote reform in industries which are closely associated with the destruction of natural resources, such as forests and encourage companies to operate in ways that reflect best practice. For example, through Partnerships for Forests (£120 million, 2015-23), the UK supports public-private partnerships with companies operating in the palm oil, rubber, cocoa, coffee, soya and cattle industries, which are helping to protect and restore forests, provide local jobs and livelihoods and ensure recognition and respect for local community rights. This work is helping to drive bad practice out of these industries and protect local communities and global populations from the damage caused by deforestation.

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