Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the UK has allocated from the public purse in Official Development Assistance to projects for mining, transporting or generating electricity from (a) coal, (b) oil and (c) gas in each of the last five years.

Many developing countries need to increase their energy supplies to accelerate economic growth, deliver critical services, and improve the lives of poor people. When we invest in energy, including in oil and gas, we do that to support development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

DFID does not provide ODA bilateral assistance for coal and has not done so since 2012. It is not possible to provide separate figures for assistance for oil and for gas.

In the Multilateral Development Banks (MDB) we do not support coal projects expect in rare circumstances and only for the poorest countries where there is no economical alternative. The Prime Minister’s announcement means DFID Ministers will now review all coal and other fossil fuel projects that are presented to the Boards of the MDBs and make a decision on each case.