Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had discussions with Shell on (a) tackling oil pollution in the Niger Delta and (b) the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights following that company's divestment from its onshore oil operations in Nigeria.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK Government has consistently supported the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and is clear that we expect UK businesses to comply with all applicable laws; identify and prevent human rights risks; and behave in line with the UNGPs. The UK Government regularly discusses with Shell the importance of action to address the risks of pollution from oil production in the Niger Delta. We continue to support initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of oil and gas production in Nigeria, including encouraging the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project to meet the needs of the communities affected by pollution.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the press notice by Amnesty International entitled Israel/OPT: New evidence of unlawful Israeli attacks in Gaza causing mass civilian casualties amid real risk of genocide, published on 14 February 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
We have previously assessed that Israel is committed and capable of complying with International Humanitarian Law (IHL). We are currently reviewing our assessment. Those assessments are supported by a detailed evidence base. Too many civilians have been killed and we want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he held with (a) his international counterparts and (b) United Nations organisations before deciding to pause funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
We are appalled by allegations that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK Government has repeatedly condemned. We are pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations. The US, Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada, Finland, Switzerland and the Netherlands have also all temporarily paused funding.
We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza who desperately need it, including through other UN agencies such as the UN World Food Programme, and UNICEF. We engage regularly with our international and UN partners, including UNRWA, on a wide range of issues relating to the humanitarian situation and the delivery of aid to Gaza.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the press release entitled PM to call for era of action at COP28 climate summit, published on 1 December 2023, how much and what proportion of the £1.6 billion funding for climate finance will be in the form of grants.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK continues to provide the majority of our climate finance through grants. Our most recent external report [https://unfccc.int/documents/628264] showed that over 87 per cent of UK International Climate Finance was delivered through grants. Our expectation is that the high proportion of grant-based climate finance will continue, including for the latest announcements.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2024 to Question 7540 on Gaza: Humanitarian Aid and the Answer of 26 January 2024 to Question 9495 on Gaza: Humanitarian Aid, how many truckloads of UK aid are in Gaza; what recent progress his Department has made on helping to tackle constraints on the number of trucks entering Gaza each day; and what recent estimate he has made of the average daily number of truckloads of humanitarian supplies entering Gaza in the last month.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The Foreign Secretary discussed the urgency of getting significantly more aid into Gaza to alleviate the desperate situation there with Prime Minister Netanyahu on 24 January. He reiterated the need for Israel to open more crossing points into Gaza, for Nitzana and Kerem Shalom to be open for longer, and for Israel to support the UN to distribute aid effectively across the whole of Gaza.
We have trebled our aid commitment for this financial year and are working closely with partners in international agencies and in the region to increase access. We have supported the United Nations World Food Programme to deliver a new humanitarian land corridor from Jordan into Gaza. 750 tonnes of life-saving food aid arrived in the first delivery in December and 315 tonnes in the second delivery. The UK also played a leading role in securing the passage of Security Council resolution 2720, which set out the urgent demand for expanded humanitarian access.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which policies under each arms length body reporting to their Department fall within the scope of the Environmental principles policy statement, published on 31 January 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The duty applies to all policies made from 1 November 2023, whether developed by a central department or an arm's length body, which are:
• made by Ministers of the Crown; and
• not covered by the exemptions for the armed forces, defence or national security, taxation, spending or the allocation of resources within government.
The environmental principles policy statement provides further information on what is considered policy in scope of the duty. Examples include strategies and frameworks.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps he is taking with his (a) Israeli counterpart and (b) the UN to help ensure the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2720.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK Government continues to discuss and press for the action that needs to be taken to increase aid to Gaza in his regular calls with Israeli counterparts. The Foreign Secretary's Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Mark Bryson-Richardson, is also working intensely to address the blockages preventing more aid reaching Gaza. The Foreign Secretary recently met with Sigrid Kaag, the UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, who was appointed by the United Nations Secretary General pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2720 (2023). We are exploring options to support Ms Kaag in her role, as she develops her priorities.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what proportion of UK aid sent to Gaza since 7 October 2023 has entered Gaza as of 15 January 2024.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
UK supplies have been passed on to our partners in the region and the majority are already in Gaza.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he discussed a timeline for the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah at his meeting with the Egyptian President on 20 December 2023.
Answered by David Rutley
Ministers and officials continue to raise Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian government and have been consistently clear in calls for his release, while continuing to press the need for urgent consular access. The Foreign Secretary and Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon raised his case with President Sisi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry on 21 December 2023. The Prime Minister also recently raised Mr El-Fattah's case with President Sisi on 1 December 2023.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make representations to his counterpart in Iran on the imminent execution of Reza Rasayi.
Answered by David Rutley
HMG opposes the death penalty in all circumstances. At the 78th UN General Assembly, we co-sponsored the Iran Human Rights Resolution, calling for Iran to establish a moratorium on executions. We condemn Iran's continued imposition of the death penalty on protesters and have sanctioned 94 Iranian individuals or entities for human rights violations since September 2022. We will continue to pressure Iran on its application of the death penalty.