Mining
International Development
Lisa Nandy (Wigan, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development
(1) what his policy is on support for projects that involve open pit coal mining;
(2) whether his Department has recently made an assessment of the potential effect of open pit mining in Bangladesh on (a) the environment and (b) human rights.
Alan Duncan (Minister of State, International Development; Rutland and Melton, Conservative)
Open-pit mines have been financed in the past by some of the funding instruments the Department for International Development (DFID) supports, for example through the World Bank. These instruments conduct robust environmental impact assessments before agreeing to support any open-pit coal mine.
DFID supports countries to improve the management of their mining sectors so as to maximise the benefits for growth and development. For example, in Sierra Leone, the UK supports a new National Minerals Agency which aims to help raise $2.4 billion in additional government revenues from mining by 2021. The Government of Bangladesh and others have undertaken some assessments of the potential impact of open-cast mining. DFID has not carried out a separate assessment. Whether or not to allow open-cast mining at Phulbari or elsewhere is a decision that only the Government of Bangladesh can make, but all environmental and human rights issues must be addressed.
