Fossil fuel companies dominate UK Export Finance energy hospitality gifts

(Global Witness, London, 12 June 2020) UKEF have been in the spotlight more and more over the last year for their disproportionate support for the fossil fuel industry. Last year, UKEF provided nearly £2 billion in taxpayer support for fossil fuel projects all over the world.  Despite dozens of MPs, two high-profile Parliamentary inquiries and one former UN Secretary-General calling on UKEF to stop funding fossil fuels, the Government continues to ignore calls for change. It has just been revealed that 96% of the gifts and hospitality accepted by UKEF in the past 20 years related to the energy sector were paid for by major fossil fuel companies, including Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil business Saudi Aramco and Gazprom, which is owned by the Russian government.