Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to offset the historic carbon emissions produced as a result of Official Development Assistance and UK Export Finance (1) investments, (2) loans, and (3) loan guarantees.

Countries need reliable and sustainable supplies of energy if they are to tackle poverty effectively by growing their economies, creating jobs and delivering essential services. UK aid is focused on helping them achieve this. While we do not currently have plans to offset historic emissions, our support for energy is increasingly invested in renewables. Since 2011, the UK has provided 33 million people with improved access to clean energy, avoided 31 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and installed 2,000 MW of clean energy capacity. The Government is continuing to strengthen the UK's ambitious climate action through the doubling of our international climate finance to £11.6 billion between 2021/22 and 2025/26.

UKEF is proactively developing the breadth of its support for renewable sectors, with £2 billion allocated to UKEF's direct lending facility for clean growth and renewable energy projects. The facility recently supported a £230 million large-scale windfarm off the coast of Taiwan and £47.6 million of support to build two of the largest solar plants in Spain. UKEF is continuing to strengthen its pipeline of renewable energy projects.

The Prime Minister announced at the Climate Ambition Summit on 12 December that the Government will no longer provide any new direct financial or promotional support for the fossil fuel energy sector overseas, with very limited exemptions. This includes support through Official Development Assistance and export finance.