Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which provider supplies energy to his Department; how much CO2 was emitted through his Department’s energy consumption in the latest period for which figures are available; whether the criteria his Department uses to selecting an energy supplier includes how environmentally friendly the supplier is; and what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce CO2 emissions from its energy use.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) uses theEnergy Suppliers listed below:
| Electricity | Gas | Other |
King Charles Street | EDF | EON | Whitehall District Heating |
Hanslope Park | EDF | N/A | Fuel-Oil – Certas Energy |
Lancaster House | EDF | British Gas &Corona |
|
Carlton Gardens | EDF | Corona |
|
Wilton Park | EDF & British Gas | EDF & Corona | Biomass - woodchip from The Wiston Estate Gas Oil - Pace Fuelcare |
The energy used by the FCO across its UK estate is procured using the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), apart from Fuel Oil at Wilton Park.
We endeavour to use renewable and low carbon heat where feasible, however due to operational reasons other fuel-oils are needed to supplement these.
In 2018/19 the FCO's UK energy consumption accounted for 7357 tCO2e. A focus for the FCO is to reduce the electricity consumption across its estate through a roll-out of energy efficient user IT equipment, moving towards a virtualised data centre environment, as data centre electricity accounts for around 30% of total FCO UK electricity consumption, and more widely looking into the feasibility of renewable and low carbon energy and heat across its estate.
The carbon emissions figure quoted above represents CO2 emitted from energy consumption for the FCO's UK operations, in line with our reporting for the Greening Government Commitments targets and in our annual sustainability report.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether British diplomats received a warning not to attend protests in the days before protesters in Khartoum were violently attacked on 13 May 2019.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
On Sunday 12 May our Ambassador to Khartoum, alongside a group of Western Heads of Mission including the American Chargé and Head of the Delegation of the EU to Sudan, were summoned to the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and requested by the Sudanese authorities to avoid visits to the site of the protests due to safety concerns in the area. Our Embassy in Khartoum is in close proximity to the sit-in area. There was violence in this area during the evenings of the 13 May and 15 May.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the news story on Troika statement on current unrest in Sudan published his Department's website on 10 April 2019, who the term authorities refers to.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
Our calls for a peaceful transition that credibly responds to the demands to the people of Sudan is addressed to those exercising the authority of the state of Sudan and its security institutions; whether the Government under President Omar al-Bashir, or the Military Council that removed him from power on 11 April.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the news story on Troika statement on current unrest in Sudan published his Department's website on 10 April 2019, whether there has been a change in UK policy towards the Government in Sudan.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The statement of 9 April made clear that the UK and our Troika partners, Norway and the United States, continue to support an inclusive political settlement in Sudan that addresses long standing conflicts and delivers economic and political reforms, more recently one that responds credibly to protestor demands. This remains the case following the removal of Omar al-Bashir as President. We also welcome the African Union’s statement of 11 April expressing solidarity with the people of Sudan, a commitment to support them, and that a military take-over is not the appropriate response to the challenges facing Sudan.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Sudanese counterpart on reforms to that county's 2010 National Security Act.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The UK has raised concerns about the Sudan National Security Act of 2010 on a number of occasions, especially on issues of accountability and provisions that offer National Intelligence and Security Service officers immunity from prosecution. As part of Sudan's Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights at the Human Rights Council in May 2016, the UK called for reforms to ensure adherence to International standards. The 2017 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights Report further urged Sudan to implement its Universal Periodic Review recommendations regarding reform of the act, to ensure that the national intelligence and security services conformed to international human rights standards, and urged full accountability for all human rights violations. We continue to raise these concerns with the Government of Sudan.