At International Trade questions today I asked the Minister about the UK Export Finance (UKEF) agency and why nearly every penny of its support for energy projects overseas goes on fossil fuels.

The question was sparked following an Environmental Audit Committee hearing I attended on Tuesday, as part of our new inquiry into the role of UKEF. It is estimated that UKEF provided £551 million in support of fossil fuel production overseas per year between 2014 and 2016, and that fossil fuels made up a staggering 99.4% of all energy support provided by UKEF in 2010-14. This makes a mockery of our commitments on climate change.

Given that this information is publically available I was bitterly disappointed by the Minister’s response. He seemed totally unaware of where his Department is spending money, and that UKEF is locking developing countries into high-carbon dependency on his watch.