Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to his Colombian counterpart on the impact on (a) the environment and (b) local communities of the Cerrejón coal mine in La Guajira.

During his recent visit to Colombia, Minister Rutley met with President Petro and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to discuss shared priorities, including security issues and environment and sustainable development. The UK was the first country to create a National Action Plan to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This plan sets out what is expected of the conduct of UK businesses, including compliance with relevant laws and respect for human rights; treating the risk of causing human rights abuses as a legal compliance issue; adopting appropriate due diligence policies; and consulting those who could potentially be affected. We will continue to ensure that large UK companies are held to account on these issues through regulation, including the Companies Act, which requires corporate transparency over potential human rights issues, and due diligence measures taken.