Campaigners Call on UK Government to Withdraw Financing for Fossil Fuel Project in Mozambique or Potentially Face Legal Action

The campaign group Oil Change International (OCI) has written to the UK government calling for an immediate reversal of its decision to finance a controversial fossil fuel project in Mozambique mired in allegations of human rights violations.

The project is an LNG (liquified natural gas) development located in the Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique, where conflict and insurgency violence has disrupted the area since 2017. 

The group says that the continued funding of the project could put the UK government in breach of its international human rights obligations.

In June 2020, the government made the decision to provide $1.15bn of export finance for the Mozambique LNG Project, making it one of the largest fossil fuel financial packages offered abroad by the UK.

Consent was granted by the then Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz Truss, despite reported opposition from others within the government.

Since 2017, the Cabo Delgado region has seen an ongoing conflict between the armed insurgency group Al-Shabab and the Mozambique government. This has resulted in an estimated almost 6,000 deaths since the conflict began, and some 582,000 people displaced from the area as of January 2024.

The conflict has also resulted in attacks by insurgents on workers at the site of the LNG project, which resulted in a joint task force (JTF) being formed between developer TotalEnergies and the Mozambique government in an effort to provide more security for the site.

In March 2021, an insurgent attack on the town of Palma, which had acted as a base of operations for the project, resulted in at least 1,400 people being killed or missing presumed dead, including British national Philip Mawer.

The same attack saw 183 contractors linked to the LNG project trapped in a hotel for two days, with 10 people being killed when they tried to escape.

In March 2025, French authorities began investigating TotalEnergies over potential manslaughter and a failure to assist people – including Philip Mawer – during the attack.

It has also been reported that locals from the Cabo Delgado region who were relocated to new settlements have been killed and harassed by the JTF, which had originally been set up to provide security for the LNG project. 

One report details that in June and July 2021, villagers were texted by the Mozambican army warning of an Al-Shabab attack. The women were then reportedly sexually assaulted by soldiers, while the men were driven to and locked in metal containers located outside the LNG project’s energy plant.

The legal letter sent by OCI argues that the funding of the LNG project in Mozambique goes against the UK’s obligations under international law to promote human rights in business both domestically and abroad. 

The letter also highlights the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which state that companies and nations must ensure that human rights are respected in relation to business operations. 

OCI says that the funding of the LNG project is not compatible with environmental commitments made by the government to no longer provide financial or promotional support for the fossil fuel sector overseas.

In its letter, OCI calls on the government, which is currently seeking legal advice over pulling its funding, to immediately commit to withdrawing from its decision to provide UK funding for the LNG project or potentially face legal action. It asks that if this is not done, the government provides an explanation as to how the project does not breach international human rights standards. 

Adam McGibbon, campaign strategist at Oil Change International, said:

“The Prime Minister is a human rights lawyer – one look at the Mozambique LNG project should tell him that the UK’s involvement in this project – and the litany of death and destruction associated with it – is a clear violation of the UK’s human rights obligations. The decision on UK government involvement will either make or break this project. 

“If the UK government insists on using taxpayer finance to facilitate this catastrophe, they should expect to end up in court over it.”

Leigh Day solicitor Julia Eriksen said:

“Our client has been in regular contact with UK Export Finance to bring to their attention the reported human rights abuses that have been occurring in the region of Mozambique where the LNG project is located. However, to date no meaningful action has been taken. OCI’s latest letter argues that funding this project risks breaching the UK’s human rights and environmental obligations. OCI hopes that this letter to the government will prompt swift action to withdraw from the project.”