§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the proposed South Caucasus oil pipeline; and what discussions he has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the environmental consequences of the proposed pipeline. [136065]
§ Hilary BennDFID interest in the Baku-Tbilisi Ceyhan (BTC) pipe line project in the South Caucasus is as a shareholder of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group and of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The Board of the IFC has already decided to provide finance for this project, and the Board of the EBRD is expected to take a decision on this on 11 November.
Both institutions have carried out rigorous due diligence, including on social, environment, legal and commercial issues, in accordance with their standard procedures. DFID has not duplicated this work but, in view of the complexity of the project, commissioned consultants to carry out an assessment of its compliance 659W with the environmental safeguard policies of the IFC and EBRD. I am placing this assessment in the Library of the House.
In considering the IFC and EBRD proposals on the BTC project, DFID carried out extensive Whitehall co-ordination, including with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.