§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to(a) establish environmental guidelines for the Export Credits Guarantee Department and (b) support the introduction of such guidelines at the G8 summit in Okinawa. [130830]
§ Mr. CabornI have been asked to reply
ECGD has enhanced its procedures to assess the environmental impact of projects for which its support is requested. In the context of the current review of its mission and status, ECGD is also looking carefully at what more should be done to ensure its support for projects is consistent with the Government's sustainable development objectives, including possible further improvements to its environmental screening and assessment process.
At the forthcoming G8 summit in Okinawa, the UK will support moves to reaffirm the mandate from the Cologne summit, at which it was agreed to work within the OECD towards common environmental guidelines for export credit agencies. At their meeting in June, OECD Ministers welcomed the good progress made in the OECD Export Credit Group on strengthening common approaches on the environment and requested a report on progress at the next meeting.