Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Official Development Assistance is allocated to (a) ethical, (b) sustainable and (c) environmentally-sound projects.

The Department for International Development’s approach to design and implementation of development projects is governed by a set of rules and standards that reflect good development practice.

These rules and standards emphasise the principle of doing no harm. This ensures that interventions do not reinforce social exclusion and predatory institutions; exacerbate conflict; contribute to human rights or safeguarding risks. The rules also emphasise the importance of sustainability and resilience to generate lasting benefits for poor people. This includes ensuring that our interventions do not create or exacerbate resource scarcity, climate change and/or environmental damage.