Crisis Deepens as Gas Project Considered for UK Taxpayer Support Embroiled in Legal Action Over War Crimes Allegations 

A controversial gas megaproject in Mozambique, which the UK government is considering backing with public funds, has come under renewed scrutiny as its sponsor faces legal action over alleged complicity in war crimes.

Today, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) filed a criminal complaint in France against the oil and gas major TotalEnergies, for complicity in war crimes and torture. TotalEnergies is accused of having directly financed and materially supported a Mozambican army unit, which between July and September 2021 allegedly detained, tortured and killed dozens of civilians on TotalEnergies’ gas site. The complaint has been filed with the French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor (PNAT), which also has a mandate to investigate  international crimes.

In 2020, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson authorised UK Export Finance, a government agency, to provide USD $1.15 billion in taxpayer-backed financing for the project, on the insistence of then-Business Secretary, Liz Truss. Following a wave of attacks by ISIS-backed insurgents near the project site in 2021, the project was suspended and is now seeking finance again to re-start. UK public finance is instrumental in the project going ahead – as of now, the UK government is still considering whether to reapprove financing for the Mozambique LNG project and earlier this year took legal advice on pulling out of it. 

Reapproval of the Mozambique project would violate a late 2020 UK government policy restricting international fossil fuel finance, which the government adopted after giving the initial greenlight for the project. The UK used this policy to build a successful international coalition, the Clean Energy Transition Partnership, that has reduced international fossil fuel finance by 78%. 

The UK government’s funding of the project was challenged in court by Friends of the Earth. Although the funding was initially found to be unlawful by a High Court judge, the challenge was ultimately rejected. In July this year, Oil Change International published a briefing summing up the environmental, human rights and financial problems with this project, and why the UK government should not finance the project. Today’s development only adds more reasons for the UK government to refuse to support the project.

Adam McGibbon, Campaign Strategist at Oil Change International, said:

“As the UK Government grandstands about climate leadership at COP30, a major dirty gas project it is considering financing faces allegations of war crimes. The Mozambique project  plunges deeper into crisis, and is a millstone around the government’s neck. Keir Starmer must immediately end the UK’s support for the Mozambique LNG project.” 

Asad Rehman, Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth, said:

“The Mozambique LNG project is a carbon timebomb. And, as this court case demonstrates, it is also linked to horrific human rights abuses. It’s further evidence, if more was needed, why the UK government should not even be considering supporting it.

“The climate crisis is a global issue, and it’s countries that have done least to cause it – like Mozambique – that are on the frontline. The UK should be helping Mozambique adapt to the impacts it faces and investing in clean energy, not supporting more highly damaging fossil fuel projects that are harming local communities and the planet.”

Notes for editors:

• Oil Change International, represented by solicitors Leigh Day, wrote to the UK government earlier in the year calling on them to refuse funding for this project, or potentially face legal action on human rights and climate grounds.
• The insurgency by Islamic State Mozambique (ISM) in Cabo Delgado has  intensified in recent months, with the gas project seen as a key driver of resentment and recruitment for the insurgency. The armed conflict monitoring project ACLED has recorded recent levels of violence reaching 2022 levels, despite claims that the insurgency is no longer a danger to the gas project.