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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Sarah Johnson

UK government under fire for investing overseas aid in fossil fuel firms

A palm oil mill on the Congo River, the Democratic Republic of the Congo
A palm oil mill on the Congo River. MPs questioned investments in Feronia, a DRC palm oil firm accused of exposing workers to dangerous chemicals. Photograph: Luciana Téllez/Human Rights Watch

The UK government is under attack for investing taxpayers’ money in fossil fuel companies, a hospital in Kenya accused of imprisoning patients who couldn’t pay for treatment, and a business in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that exposed workers to dangerous chemicals and dumped untreated industrial waste.

MPs questioned the investments at a two-hour session in parliament on Tuesday, and excoriated Andrew Mitchell, minister for development, for making overseas aid available to a company owned by Africa’s richest man that is suspected of causing serious environmental damage.

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