Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in South Sudan on oil pollution in that region.

The UK Government continuously monitors political, economic and environmental developments in South Sudan, including oil production and pollution. UK Government officials have raised environmental concerns with the petroleum industry as part of our wider discussions with the South Sudanese Ministry of Petroleum. We work in close coordination with development partners and civil activists who have been calling on the South Sudanese Government to conduct an environmental audit of oil pollution.

More broadly, we are committed to the protection of natural wealth in South Sudan, including through funding projects for wildlife conservation, poverty reduction and building community resilience to the impacts of climate change.