Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of trends in the level of fossil fuel usage in developing countries on levels of poverty in those countries.

Energy is essential for development and poverty reduction, and there are many assessments that show that poor countries will need to increase investments in energy in the coming years to increase economic growth and improve the lives of poor people. Two recent examples of such assessments include the 2019 Sustainable Development Goal 7 Energy Progress Report, and Sustainable Energy for All’s ‘Energising Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2018’.

The science is clear that the world must reduce its emissions if we are to avoid dangerous climate change, which risks undermining development gains and pushing more people into poverty. This will need to be a collective global effort, from all countries, and the UK is leading by example, setting a target to reach net zero by 2050.

The UK is providing support to developing countries to think about their choices and how to best to secure the energy they need.