Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the carbon footprint of the Mozambique gas project funded by UKEF; and whether that carbon footprint meets the the UK"s commitments under the 2015 Paris Climate Commitment and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

The Project’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment estimated the annual Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the Mozambique LNG Project to be approximately 6 MtCO_2eq. per annum. This equates to around 6 - 10% of Mozambique’s national GHG emissions, which are historically very low (just over 1/20^th of the UK per capita level). GHG emissions were estimated in accordance with the GHG Emissions Protocol: Corporate Accounting & Reporting Standard developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Resources Institute (WRI).

The Paris Agreement (Article 4.1) recognises that the peaking of greenhouse gases will take longer for developing countries, such as Mozambique, and the LNG Project sits within Mozambique’s longer-term plans to establish strong social and economic stability.

The Project’s Scope 3 emissions are produced predominantly by the use of the Project’s LNG. Calculating LNG Scope 3 emissions is highly complex and requires details of when, where, how and how much of the Project’s gas volumes will be used. UKEF made some reasonable assumptions about Scope 3 emissions, that it then took into account in its review of the Project.

UKEF also considered the likelihood of the Project’s gas being used to replace or displace more polluting hydrocarbon sources, such as oil and coal. This would result in lower net emissions when used as energy sources.

UKEF has not specifically considered alignment of the MOZ LNG Project in relation to the SDGs. As a UK government department delivering support to UK exporters, UKEF actively contributes to the UK’s progress towards, and achievement of goal 8 (decent work and economic growth), goal 16 (peace justice and strong institutions) and goal 17 (partnership for the goals). UKEF’s role in unlocking finance for delivery of projects has ancillary contributions to other SDGs in destination countries.

The UK Government keeps its support for the fossil fuels industry under review to ensure the UK reaches its net zero target by 2050.