Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate he has made of the CDC Group's expected investment in fossil fuel projects in the next five financial years beginning in 2021/22.
Answered by James Duddridge
CDC has published its complete portfolio of energy investments as held at 31 December 2019 on its website, with details including the start date of each investment and the total amount committed.
For future investments, CDC has published its fossil fuel policy to align with the Government's new approach. The policy excludes the vast majority of fossil fuel sub-sectors including coal, oil and upstream gas exploration and production. Limited exceptions, such as selective gas power investments, are required to demonstrate alignment with a country's pathway to net zero emissions by 2050, amongst other criteria. The stringent criteria applied to such investments is also available on CDC's website.
CDC has invested over $1 billion of climate finance in the past three years, and has set a target for 30% of all new commitments in 2021 to be to climate finance. CDC does not set sector specific investment targets for its future investments. Specific pipeline information is not disclosed as this is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans for the new overseas fossil fuel policy outlined in the Government’s response to the Aligning UK International Support for Energy Transition consultation to replace CDC Group’s fossil fuel policy adopted in December 2020.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Prime Minister announced at the Climate Ambition Summit on 12 December 2020 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. On the same day, CDC Group announced its fossil fuel policy which is fully aligned with HMG's fossil fuel policy.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what restrictions on investment in fossil fuels apply to CDC Group's recently announced $100 million investment in the Helios Investors IV fund.
Answered by James Duddridge
Every investment CDC makes is assessed for its positive development impact using an internationally recognised methodology. In addition to this, through its Code of Responsible Investing, CDC applies rigorous environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards to each investment.
As part of its commitment to Helios Investors IV, CDC has in place legal agreements to ensure that the fund cannot invest in a range of fossil fuel activities, including coal-fired power plants, coal mining, processing and trading, upstream oil and gas exploration and production, midstream oil, oil refineries and HFO only-fired power plants and mini-grids.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the new fossil fuel policy outlined in the Government’s response to the Aligning UK International Support for Energy Transition consultation in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK is firmly committed to Sustainable Development Goal 7 aimed at helping developing countries establish a secure and sustainable energy supply, economic growth and poverty reduction. We do this in a way that supports the UK's climate and environment objectives. Since 2011, the UK International Climate Finance (ICF) has provided 33 million people with improved access to clean energy.
HMG's fossil fuels policy demonstrates the UK's global climate leadership ahead of the UK's COP 26 Presidency. In developing this policy, HMG consulted with civil society, oil and gas majors, SMEs and industry bodies to gather views and evidence which reinforced the importance of the UK taking ambitious and decisive action on climate. However, in doing so, HMG would also ensure that the skilled and dynamic UK energy industry is effectively supported to transition successfully to clean energy export markets. And, in support of SDG 7, there would be few limited exemptions allowed for activities that support health and safety improvements, form part of wider clean energy transitions, decommissioning and humanitarian responses.
Asked by: Baroness Blackstone (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total value of overseas aid invested in fossil fuels via (1) the CDC Group, and (2) the Private Infrastructure Development Group, including investments made through financial intermediaries, for the (a) 2015/16, (b) 2016/17, (c) 2017/18, (d) 2018/19, and (e) 2019/20, tax years.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
CDC has published its complete portfolio of energy investments as held at 31 December 2019 on its website, which includes the start date of each investment and the total amount committed.
The value of Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) commitments to energy projects (disaggregated by renewables and non-renewables) is published in the 2019 PIDG Annual Review available on the PIDG website. Project level data on all PIDG investment commitments are also available online via its Results Monitoring Database and its annual reports.
Due to the disproportionate cost of compiling the requested data, it is not possible to provide an estimate of the total value of support provided to overseas fossil fuels projects or companies via the CDC Group and PIDG.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many legacy investments in fossil fuels within the CDC Group’s portfolio have been phased out since 2018.
Answered by James Duddridge
CDC's legacy portfolio comprises investments made by funds committed to before 2012 when major changes to CDC's strategy and investment policy were introduced.
CDC's full energy portfolio, as of December 2019, is available online: https://assets.cdcgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/11174306/Fossil-Fuels-and-Renewables-portfolio-as-at-31-December-2019-pdf.pdf.
Four fossil fuel power investments made through fund investments before 2012 have been exited since 2018.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made on the effect the (a) CDC and (b) Private Infrastructure Development Group investment strategies on the delivery of the Government’s policy to end fossil projects overseas.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Prime Minister announced at the Climate Ambition Summit on 12 December 2020 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. The policies of both CDC and PIDG are well aligned to the delivery of the Government's policy to end fossil fuel investment overseas.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of the UK's total overseas development assistance contribution provided to the 13th Replenishment Fund of African Development Bank (2014-2020) was allocated to (a) fossil fuel projects and connected business programmes and (b) to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project.
Answered by James Duddridge
Since 2014, the UK has supported replenishments of the African Development Fund (AfDF) as follows:
13th replenishment (2014-16) £604 million of the £4.8 billion total;
14th replenishment (2017-19) £447 million of the £4.3 billion total;
15th replenishment (2020-22) £620 million of the £6.0 billion total.
The 16th replenishment is expected to be agreed in 2022.
Between 2014 and 2020 two AfDF projects with fossil fuel components have been approved by the Bank's Board, with a total value of £71 million. One relates to the installation of a generator for a diesel-powered power plant and the other to improving transmission from an existing gas power plant. No AfDF support has been provided for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project. Future AfDF projects have yet to be agreed with country governments and the Bank's Board. The Bank is preparing a new climate change and green growth policy, due to be published in late 2021. We are engaging with this process with the aim of further limiting the Bank's support for fossil fuel projects, in line with the UK's recently announced policy.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of the UK's total overseas development assistance contribution made available for the 14th Replenishment Fund of African Development Bank (2020-2026) is planned to be allocated to (a) fossil fuel projects and connected business programmes and (b) the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project.
Answered by James Duddridge
Since 2014, the UK has supported replenishments of the African Development Fund (AfDF) as follows:
13th replenishment (2014-16) £604 million of the £4.8 billion total;
14th replenishment (2017-19) £447 million of the £4.3 billion total;
15th replenishment (2020-22) £620 million of the £6.0 billion total.
The 16th replenishment is expected to be agreed in 2022.
Between 2014 and 2020 two AfDF projects with fossil fuel components have been approved by the Bank's Board, with a total value of £71 million. One relates to the installation of a generator for a diesel-powered power plant and the other to improving transmission from an existing gas power plant. No AfDF support has been provided for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project. Future AfDF projects have yet to be agreed with country governments and the Bank's Board. The Bank is preparing a new climate change and green growth policy, due to be published in late 2021. We are engaging with this process with the aim of further limiting the Bank's support for fossil fuel projects, in line with the UK's recently announced policy.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance was allocated to fossil fuel projects in 2020.
Answered by James Duddridge
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 new policy will be implemented as soon as possible following the conclusion of a consultation process and will apply to all future Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending decisions.
This announcement forms part of the commitment made at the G20 in June 2019 that the UK Government will align all future ODA with the Paris Agreement temperature goals. ODA spend figures for 2020 are not yet available.