LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2022) The UK government has allocated 5.4 billion Pounds ($7 billion) in the past three years to energy and infrastructure projects allegedly linked to labor abuse and environmental damage in countries across the middle East, Africa and Asia, The Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday.
According to the media outlet, the funding comes in the form of loans and guarantees from the UK Export Finance (UKEF), a government department that helps UK companies access business contract overseas.
The Guardian said that despite the UKEF undertook environmental and human rights reviews of the projects before allocating the funding, there had been several cases of workers complaining of low pay, safety hazards, excessive working hours, and the denial of freedom of movement.
It also recalled that the UK government was recently sued by the environmental group Friends of the Earth for providing $1.15 billion of taxpayer money to a liquefied natural gas plant in Mozambique which it claims contravenes the Paris climate agreement.
