Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help support environmentally-friendly development in (a) Gabon and (b) other Commonwealth nations.

The UK Government supports environmentally friendly development in Gabon through our Forests, Governance, Markets and Climate programme. This supports the implementation of national forest governance reforms prioritised by the Government of Gabon, including the sustainable growth of the forest sector, traceability and transparency systems to ensure legality and sustainability, and strengthening multi stakeholder capacity in-country to follow up on the reform process. We are actively considering further work in the country, including through the new Biodiverse Landscapes Fund.

Environmentally sustainable development is a priority for the UK Government and across the Commonwealth we are delivering this through a wide portfolio of programmes. Our contributions to multilateral institutions focused on the environment and development, such as the Central African Forests Initiative, the Global Environment Facility, and the Green Climate Fund, are an important part of this effort.