Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the (a) environmental, (b) social and (c) human rights effects of the Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project on local communities in the context of the political and social situation in that region.

UK Export Finance (UKEF) undertook an environmental, social and human rights (ESHR) review of the Mozambique LNG Project in line with the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) 2016 Revised text for the Recommendation of the Council on Common Approaches for Officially Supported Export Credits and Environmental and Social Due Diligence (the “OECD Common Approaches”), and the Equator Principles (2013), alongside that also conducted by the co-lenders to the transaction. The review assessed the alignment of the Project against relevant international ESHR standards, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Responsibility. ESHR impacts were considered in the context of the political and social situation at the Project location in line with the requirements of IFC Performance Standard 4 on Community Health, Safety, and Security.

These requirements aim to ensure that the safeguarding of the Project’s personnel and property is carried out in accordance with relevant human rights principles, and that these activities and processes are planned, conducted and monitored in a manner that avoids or minimises ESHR risks to affected communities. The Project was evaluated to have the potential to cause some adverse ESHR impacts, but it is considered that these can be adequately managed using the suite of controls that are proposed as part of the Project’s environmental and social management system and meet the relevant ESHR standards.