UK’s Starmer has righted wrong, says OCI on reports of withdrawal from controversial Mozambique LNG project

In response to reports that the UK Government is withdrawing USD $1.15 billion in public finance for the controversial Mozambique Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) project, Adam McGibbon, Campaign Strategist at Oil Change International, said,

“Keir Starmer and his government made the right decision to refuse to fund the Mozambique LNG project, which is a human rights and environmental disaster. Committing UK taxpayer’s money to enable the project was a reckless move by the last government, and would have breached the UK’s policy to not fund fossil fuel projects overseas. Starmer has now righted this wrong. 

“It’s time for the other financiers – governments like The Netherlands, the United States, Italy and Japan, and private financiers like Standard Chartered – to pull out too, and put an end to this nightmare project forever.”

Daniel Ribiero, from Justicia Ambiental Mozambique, said:

“This decision by the UK shows that it is never too late to correct a mistake. Gas exploration in northern Mozambique has been associated with numerous human rights violations. Local communities have suffered the brunt of this, as well as having lost their livelihoods and lands to the project.

In addition, the project is a carbon bomb and will have an impact on one of the most pristine ecosystems in Africa.

Hopefully other financiers reflect on the reality of this project and put people’s rights over profits.”

NOTES:

• The Mozambique LNG project is a controversial fossil fuel project with grave allegations of human rights abuses and severe climate harms. In July, Oil Change International published a summary briefing of the human rights, environmental issues with the project.
• The UK initially signed up to support the LNG project in 2020, at the insistence of then-International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, and personally signed off by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. To our knowledge, the UK withdrawing its export finance support for a project – after initially saying yes in 2020 – is unprecedented.
• UK financing was seen as key for the project to go ahead. Campaigners believe that the UK pulling out could start a ‘domino effect’ of other key financiers pulling out, such as the Dutch government, who have yet to make a decision on whether to go ahead with financing.
• In June 2025, Oil Change International threatened the UK government with court action, saying that financing the project could put the government in breach of its international human rights obligations.