UKEF hands billions to projects linked to labour abuse and climate damage

(The Guardian, London, 31 March 2022) UK Export Finance used £5.24bn of taxpayer money to fund overseas energy and infrastructure ventures despite its own review raising concerns over labour abuses and environmental damage. Since 2019, UKEF has allocated £5.24bn of taxpayer money to projects with the potential to cause “significant adverse environmental and/or social impacts” in countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, according to calculations by the Guardian based on disclosures made by UKEF. Oil refineries, power stations, and a large-scale liquified natural gas (LGN) project are among the high-risk “Category A projects”, to receive funding recently. UKEF undertook environmental and human rights reviews of the projects ahead of granting the funding. Despite recommendations to mitigate labour abuses, six migrant workers employed on Middle Eastern projects backed by UKEF have revealed low pay, safety hazards, excessive working hours, and the denial of freedom of movement as persistent issues. Daniel Willis, policy and campaigns manager at Global Justice Now said that “Human rights considerations are an afterthought, and due diligence seems to be approached as if it is just a box to tick.” A review of an oil refinery upgrade programme in Kuwait, obtained by a freedom of information request, shows that UKEF knew of worker issues before it provided a $179m (£135m) support package in 2019. Employees and contractors were commonly working more than the maximum overtime hours allowed by legislation, and 87% of workers surveyed had not received an employment contract, according to the UKEF’s review. About 90% of workers at Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) had also been charged illicit recruitment fees to secure their jobs. Before awarding it $500m in 2019, a UKEF review flagged the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) oil refinery expansion project as having “forced and child labour and worker health and safety as potential project risks”.