In response to the announcement that the Prime Minister has ordered a review into the use of government export finance guarantees to help fund fossil fuel projects around the world, Shadow Minister for International Development Anna McMorrin MP said:

“This is a welcome commitment from the Prime Minister. But we have seen again and again that this Government’s rhetoric is louder than its action.

The billions of pounds of taxpayers money that his Government continues to funnel in overseas oil and gas projects has locked developing nations into the fossil fuel age for years to come and undoes any climate resilience that UK aid attempts to build. It places the heaviest burden of climate breakdown on the shoulders of the poorest communities who are least responsible. 

With action on climate change needed urgently, this review must meet the necessary scope and commitment required to phase-out these investments without delay and begin to undo this damaging legacy.” 

This comes just days after the Shadow Minister called out UK government’s staggering hypocrisy at the despatch box for claiming to be climate leaders in one breath and continuing to funnel billions into fossil fuel projects in another: