"Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten." Cree Indian Prophecy
July 29th to August 1st 2025, Hotel Glória, Maputo – Mozambique
In 2025, amidst huge geopolitical shifts, crises, and televised as well as invisibilized genocides across the globe, the African continent remains an important site of reproduction of the brutal global fossil capitalism – but also of struggle and resistance against it. What we are witnessing is not new: from enclosures of the commons to electoral and constitutional crises to austerity to rolling back of women’s rights to intensified forms of extraction and ecocide to wars to crackdown on political and environmental activists… we are rather experiencing expanded and accelerated forms of accumulation, while being hit by a full-blown climate and ecological breakdown to which we contributed very little. These and other phenomena all have a link with capitalism, either because capitalism feeds them and benefits from them, or because they are more or less direct consequences of capitalism, or simply because they are its breeding ground.
The deep crises in the African region are rooted, among others, in how the wealth of our land and our people continue to be internationally plundered by transnational corporations, facilitated by inherited colonial structures of accumulation. In order to address the existential threat of the climate crisis, our response needs to be radically decolonial, anti-patriarchal and anti-capitalist.
We hope that the 9th Maputo Workshop on Corporate Impunity and Human Rights serves as a space for exchanges between movements and organisations around the protection of communities rights’ and the environment. It is a call to engage truthfully about our collective commitment to change the current system. How do we reconnect with our African values in order to build a development paradigm that is peoples-centered and in line with the African vision of human dignity? What forms of solidarities (transnational, transversal, cross-movement, feminist etc) are necessary at this precise moment, and how do we deepen them? How are we plotting for our immediate needs and survival, and strengthening our movements from within, in the light of our future anticipated crises? What can we draw from the fees must fall movement in South Africa, the winds of anti-imperialism coming from the Sahel, or the youth uprises in Kenya and Mozambique?
The awakening of Panafrican politics of liberation is urgent – and might well be underway.
In January, Italian company ENI announced it would be ready for the Final Investment Decision for its Coral North FLNG project, but now states it is still negotiating with private banks for financing, and seems to blame the delay on the Mozambican authorities. In the meanwhile, one investor has been sued by a civil society organization, and four private banks have already excluded financing for the project. Coral North FLNG, a planned floating platform to extract and liquefy gas off the coast of Mozambique, is still looking for backers. Although Eni declared in January that it was ready to take the FID on the project, last week, in the context of its AGM, it admitted to shareholders that “negotiations with private financial institutions are underway”. When asked about the reasons for the delay in closing the deal, ENI only replied that the development plan was approved by the Mozambican authorities in April 2025, implying they were responsible. ENI leads work on Coral South FLNG, the only operational project in the Rovuma Basin. It is a floating processing plant anchored in deep ocean that has been exporting LNG since November 2022. Coral North FLNG would be a replica, gouging its claws into the sea floor just 10 kilometres away, compounding the impacts on the ecology of the area. Answering to the AGM questions, ENI also confirmed that “part of the project requirements are planned to be financed through debt” and with “support from a number of Export Credit Agencies”, as for Coral South FLNG. However, different private finance actors are moving towards withdrawal from unconventional upstream oil and gas in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. At least four of the banks that supported the first project – BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, UniCredit and ABN Amro – say they are no longer interested in financing the replica because it is not in line with their updated climate change policy. Just over three years since the massive vessel arrived in the Cabo Delgado region, Coral South has seen multiple cases of excessive flaring – the burning of excess extracted gas, which results in significant carbon emissions. As a replica, Coral North would likely be subject to similar issues. An investigation published in April by Italian civil society organization, ReCommon, revealed that total emissions from Coral South have been assessed at levels seven times higher than declared in the original environmental impact assessment (EIA). Between June and December 2022 alone, flaring emissions from the Coral South FLNG project accounted for 11.2% of Mozambique’s annual emissions, reflecting an 11.68% increase compared to 2021.Proceeding with gas development in the Rovuma Basin ignores the International Institute for Sustainable Development findings indicating that investment in additional gas infrastructure is incompatible with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. International Energy Agency analysis also reveals that, in a 1.5°C scenario, existing LNG export capacity would already be sufficient to meet current and future demand. With gas demand declining worldwide, Coral North carries high financial risk, prompting South Korean civil society organisation, Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC) to attempt to stop state investment in the project. In February, Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) announced a decision to invest USD 562 million in the project through equity and a loan to its subsidiary, KG Mozambique. In March, SFOC sued KOGAS, arguing that the investment is economically risky for South Korea, and the project would contribute significantly to climate change impacts and therefore violate the rights of future generations to a healthy environment. Between 2008 and April 2024, KOGAS had already invested around USD 1 billion in Mozambique gas development, but has refused to disclose the preliminary feasibility study (PFS) for Coral North. SFOC also has an ongoing case against KOGAS for disclosure of the PFS. Two other projects in the Rovuma Basin are planning significantly larger onshore processing facilities, intending to pipe gas from wells about 50 km offshore, Mozambique LNG and Rovuma LNG. The environmental impacts of the four gas projects together over their entire lifetimes could be devastating for the Rovuma Basin and the west Indian ocean. The Environmental Impact Assessment for the Coral North Project has been criticised for failing to meet legal and scientific standards in assessing environmental and climate risks. The Mozambique LNG project, led by French fossil giant TotalEnergies remains under international scrutiny. The project is under force majeure since April 2021, following a violent insurgent attack. It is now under investigation following reported allegations of a massacre of civilians that was allegedly committed near the Afungi gas complex in mid 2021 by public security forces. Mozambique LNG shares land-use rights and some infrastructure with the Rovuma LNG project, which is led by ExxonMobil, with ENI and China National Petroleum Corporation as major partners. The project also remains without a final investment decision. The development of LNG projects in Mozambique also presents severe concerns about erosion of sovereignty, due to the legal agreements that limit the government’s ability to regulate these projects and capture fair revenues. Since gas exploitation began around 2010, the industry has been linked to significant corruption-driven debt, and the government supports its national oil company’s participation in LNG projects, creating fiscal risk without guaranteed returns. Local communities have already lost agricultural lands and access to thesea because of the infrastructure development, and hundreds of families were required to relocate. Gas revenues so far amount to just over USD 200 million, of which 40% is intended for the Sovereign Wealth Fund, which was established for stability and savings for future generations. Last week the Mozambique Administrative Court reported numerous irregularities in the Financial State Account for 2023 that represent an alleged “embezzlement” of USD 33 million from Rovuma Gas revenues. In addition, Mozambican civil society is raising concerns about the funds being allocated to social and economic projects as provided for in the State Budget. Developing Mozambique’s LNG industry promises only more harm – ecological destruction and climate change impact, the destruction of people’s livelihoods, and increased disenfranchisement and inequality. This is risky business for public and private financial investors. Ends
In the early hours of 19 October, 2024, Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe were brutally murdered, their bodies riddled with bullets, at the behest of someone who believed that this would silence the VOICE of the people that these two citizens made a point to defend! Five months ago today. In the last five months, the murderers have not been identified, nor have the masterminds, nor is there any effort to solve this and other heinous crimes that have been committed in our country. There is no justice! Since then, many more Mozambican citizens have been silenced in the same brutal way, many others have simply disappeared, and even more remain lost in the meanders of our prison system… deliberately forgotten and mistreated in our police stations and prisons, in a deliberate strategy to stifle and repress our constitutional right to protest. While this and other unsolved crimes remain like a gangrene in our social fabric, our Attorney General’s Office is carrying out investigations that are exposing their politicised and partisan nature.
It is with great anger and sadness that we remember our comrade Elvino, who was always ready to defend the rights of the poorest, most forgotten and most vulnerable people in our country… it is with even greater anger that we continue to witness the total devaluation of the lives of Mozambicans, we are killed for demonstrating, killed for passing near a gathering, killed for thinking differently, killed for no longer agreeing to stand by and watch our country being squandered, killed for pointing out the serious violations of the law, the rampant corruption that everyone swears to fight only to show that it is possible to loot even more… killed for denouncing the constant and endless plunder of the state coffers, the abuse of power, the arrogance and incompetence that is paraded in our public institutions.
Never before in the history of independent Mozambique has our ethical and moral compass pointed to such a deep abyss. From electoral fraud, which Elvino decided to fight “to the end”, to corruption at the highest levels, to the partisanship of the state, to the serious and constant violations of human rights, to the open incitement to hatred and violence by those who misrule our country, we have never sunk so low. However, despite the evidence and the current state of our country, the support of the Global North remains… just so that they can continue to exploit and profit, their greed to exploit our wealth is so superior and “makes impossible” the countless hollow commitments to freedom, democracy, justice and human rights! But we don’t even need to go that far, even African governments, our own brothers and sisters, also pretend not to see while the Mozambican government violates all the precepts of freedom of expression, of demonstration and the most basic human rights, the right to life, perhaps in the hope that the awakening of the people will not spread to their own dynasties.
Today, 18 March, we write these lines and remember Elvino Dias, to the sound of gunfire, because today the People have decided to honor and celebrate their heroes by decreeing a People’s holiday. 18 March marks 2 years since our beloved rapper-activist Azagaia died and the police attacked the mourners as we mourned our fallen hero at his funeral. The police have decided to maintain “order” and “tranquility” in the way they do best, by arresting and killing! As dead, we certainly won’t be able to protest! As dead, we certainly won’t be able to shut down roads or display our posters with our heroes! How many more will have to die before they realize that the more of us they kill, the more revolt they create? How many more have to die before the country comes to a standstill? What do they think, that guns will guarantee peace? We can’t all be silenced!
As dissenting voices are silenced one by one, or two by two with bullets in their cars, we are not just witnessing political crimes, but the crumbling of the very moral fabric that should unite us as a nation. To all those who stubbornly continue to raise their voices, who stubbornly continue to demand justice, freedom and rights for all… the struggle continues!
The Maputo City Administrative Court (TACM in its Portuguese abbreviation) has just ordered the Mphanda Nkuwa Hydroelectric Project Implementation Office (GMNK) and the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (MIREME) to provide the information requested by Mozambican organisation Justiça Ambiental (JA!). In case no. 63/2024, JA! had appealed to the Court requesting that the GMNK and MIREME be ordered to provide information on safeguarding the fundamental rights of local communities affected by the implementation of the controversial Mphanda Nkuwa dam, proposed to be built on the Zambezi River in Tete province.
Background
The battle for access to information relating to the latest stage of the Mphanda Nkuwa project has been going on since 2019. Since then, JA! has made numerous and successive attempts to obtain information from the GMNK, through letters and even meetings, about the studies that will be carried out and their respective terms of reference, how new components will be integrated into the studies (bearing in mind that issues such as climate change, for example, have never been covered in previous studies), how the project will ensure that the voices and rights of local communities will be respected, among many other questions. Despite an apparent openness to dialogue with JA!, the GMNK has always limited itself to evasive, superficial answers, without providing any of the documents requested.
On March 6th 2024, JA! once again formally requested information on measures to protect the fundamental rights of local communities. However, the GMNK’s response was once again superficial, limiting itself to saying that the process of updating the technical studies was underway (an excuse that has been served up to us since April 2021). MIREME, for its part, didn’t even respond to the request, completely ignoring the letter sent by JA!
This stance by both GMNK and MIREME denotes a disastrous attempt to shirk their responsibility to provide information that is essential to the process of implementing the project. The information requested should be available, as it would serve to guarantee transparency, legality and preventive monitoring of the impacts on the rights of the affected communities. The secrecy and obscurantism that have permeated this project from the outset (including in stages long prior to 2018), in addition to the serious risks and impacts already identified by numerous experts and organisations, raise serious doubts about the alleged benefits touted by the government. At the same time, local communities have been reporting situations of intimidation, threats and even arbitrary arrests against those who question the development of the project. How can Mphanda Nkuwa really contribute to the country’s development if it needs to hide the steps it is taking and repress those most affected?
On 2 April 2024, JA! decided to escalate the issue to the Court (TACM), and submitted a request for it to order the government to make the requested information available.
The arguments used by the government
After being notified by the court, GMNK claimed that local communities had been actively involved, and that it holds meetings with local leaders, civil society and the media to share information about the project. The GMNK also tried to justify the lack of information by claiming that the studies had not yet reached the public participation stage. However, GMNK’s claim that community participation is restricted to the ‘public hearing’ process – the stage at which the environmental and social feasibility studies will actually be presented – does not reflect a real commitment to consulting communities, nor does it comply with the Administrative Procedures Act, a fact that the court did not hesitate to clarify. Law 07/2014 is clear: administrative authorities must guarantee public consultation and provide the information requested, except in the case of documents classified as secret or confidential, which is not the case here.
As for MIREME, it merely reproduced GMNK’s arguments and asked for the subpoena request to be rejected, claiming that our request was false, hasty and presumptuous. Apparently, MIREME thinks it’s ‘presumptuous’ for us to request public information about a project financed with public money, but it doesn’t think it’s presumptuous to decide the fate of entire communities without consulting them. Interesting definition of presumption!
A historical decision
The Maputo City Administrative Court then ruled in favour of JA!, determining that GMNK and MIREME must provide the requested information, regardless of the stage the studies are at, within 10 days. Failure to comply with this decision could result in the offence of qualified disobedience, as well as civil and disciplinary liability, according to article 110, no. 2 of the same law.
This historic decision by the TACM represents a decisive moment for the defence of the rights of local communities that are being threatened by the Mphanda Nkuwa dam project, and for the fight for the right to information in our country. The ruling reaffirms the constitutional right of access to information on projects that directly affect the environment and communities. By ordering the GMNK and MIREME to provide the information requested, the court establishes that transparency cannot be delayed or conditioned on arbitrary government timetables.
This decision also creates a legal tool that other civil society organisations and/or communities affected by megaprojects can use in similar cases, invoking this precedent to demand greater transparency.
“JA! welcomes this decision, and we reiterate that no so-called development project should go ahead without making available all the information needed and required by local communities and other social actors, so that this information can be properly evaluated, debated, and so that we can make better development decisions. This decision is also a big step towards materialising the right to say NO to megaprojects that cannot prove their alleged benefits, or that are already implicated in human rights violations, as is the case with Mphanda Nkuwa. Nothing about us without us!”
– Anabela Lemos, director of Justiça Ambiental JA!
The electoral crisis unfolding in Mozambique since the October 2024 elections stems from a long-standing period of widespread discontent and dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction is driven by precarious living conditions, social and gender inequality, youth unemployment, rising crime rates in urban centres, extreme vulnerability to climate events, continuous dependency on foreign economic aid, and political violence. Many promises were made that the exploitation of Mozambique’s natural resources would meet the needs of over 30 million citizens. These promises accompanied the licensing and concessions granted to foreign multinationals and their megaprojects. However, after 20 years of operation for some of these projects, young Mozambicans and others see their expectations unfulfilled.
Additionally, various social, professional, and community groups have begun showing fearless courage, taking to the streets to express their frustration after nearly 50 years of oppression. Communities affected by the extractive industry have found an opportunity to voice their demands for the promised benefits. However, these benefits exist only on paper. Misery, suffering, and hopelessness remain the tangible impacts felt daily by Mozambicans in rural areas directly affected by extractive industries.
In the district of Larde, specifically in the locality of Topuito, heavy sands are extracted by the Irish company Kenmare. After 20 years of exploitation, unjust resettlements, and the destruction of livelihoods in surrounding communities, no plausible or significant benefits have been delivered to these people. They are treated as mere chess pieces, displaced to make way for extraction. The invasion of Kenmare’s camp on 6 December, amid post-election protests, was a clear demonstration of the dissatisfaction felt by the Topuito and Larde communities. They cannot understand how or why they lost their lands to a company that has brought no positive change to their lives.
The breaking point for these communities lies in the worst of all the false promises made by the government and Kenmare: the construction of a bridge connecting Topuito to the district capital of Larde. This dates back to 2016 when Kenmare decided to expand its heavy sands extraction area to include the community’s sacred forest, which housed Mount Felipe. According to local belief, this forest was home to protective spirits and rain-bringers, as well as a source of healing waters symbolised by a giant serpent residing on the mountain.
The community initially resisted Kenmare’s activities in the sacred area, believing that the destruction of Mount Felipe would bring misfortune and that local leaders would not survive such sacrilege. However, with unconditional support from the provincial government, a meeting was held with traditional leaders, culminating in the surrender of the sacred site to Kenmare. Interestingly, the local chief died immediately after signing the documents. Was it the wrath of the spirits or another cause? No one knows.
In truth, the exchange for the sacred site, Kenmare had promised to construct a bridge connecting Topuito to the district capital. Beyond its sacred cultural and traditional significance, the site also served as a landmark for fishermen navigating their return home. The consensus sought was to expand the extraction area while preserving a minimum space respecting community values and beliefs at Mount Felipe. But, as always, community interests were neglected, and today nothing remains of Mount Felipe except white, barren sand, stripped of all its properties by the unrestrained capitalist greed of the machinery.
This, among other reasons, led to the camp’s invasion, the pursuit of an aircraft, vehicles forcibly taken to join protests in Moma, and Kenmare being compelled to sign an agreement to begin construction of the promised bridge in 2016. Just as Kenmare had coerced traditional leaders to surrender the sacred mountain with government support, it was now forced to honour its word, delivering at least the minimum after years of extracting heavy sands and reaping millions in profits.
On Monday, 9 December, the day another supposed groundbreaking ceremony for the bridge was to take place, the community was met with a heavy military contingent. Without hesitation, they opened fire on demonstrators. The company later told the press the situation was “under control.”
Many wonder where the anger and fury visible on the faces of the protesters come from. It stems from years of exploitation without return, false promises, and blatant corruption. Similar situations have occurred in Palma, in the Afungi Peninsula, where communities like Macala and Mangala had to block TotalEnergies’ gates for two weeks to finally have their concerns addressed after waiting months for compensation. Their complaints had been ignored since the previous year.
Some might question what foreign investments have to do with electoral issues, arguing that they only bring jobs and revenue to the country. However, they are deeply intertwined, symbolising power and exploitation of the most disadvantaged social groups. These investments represent exclusion from job opportunities for local youth, flouting laws while being shielded by the government. They act in partnership to destroy community livelihoods and spread false promises.
Today, 19 December 2024, we remember with great pain and outrage the brutal assassination of Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe, which occurred two months ago. We are still waiting for answers and justice regarding Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe! Who ordered the killings? Who pulled the trigger? We will not forget, and we will not stop demanding justice, even knowing that our justice system is deficient, partisan, and shamefully slow.
Our anguish and outrage have only grown, as has the number of Mozambicans killed (at least 130 people), injured, arrested, and tortured by the State Defence and Security Forces. So many Mozambicans have been murdered for demanding electoral justice and standing up for their rights that they have now become numbers — 130 people. But who are these Mozambicans? The deaths have become so great we cannot name them, they have been reduced to numbers. Yet they are not just numbers; they are Mozambican citizens who had families, dreams, and aspirations. They went out to protest for those dreams, for their rights, for our rights and freedoms… Therefore, this is not merely about 130 mourning families; we are all in mourning and stand, not only with these families, but also with those who risk their lives everyday.
No words can ease the pain of those who have lost their loved ones in such a manner. It wasn’t an accident, an illness, or old age; they were barbarically murdered by the very police who swore to protect them.
We demand justice. We demand that all these cases be thoroughly investigated and that all those involved — from the shooters to those who gave the orders from their offices, and even those who had the power to stop this massacre but failed to act, making them accomplices — be held accountable. Today, these words take on a new dimension. When we demand justice, we usually direct our demands at a specific entity. But today, we are unsure who that entity is. To whom do we demand this justice? The State? But it was the State Defence and Security Forces that killed, arrested, and persecuted demonstrators. The Attorney General’s Office (PGR), which remains silent and acts only in defence of the corrupt and against opposition parties? We have never seen justice come from the PGR, making it hard to believe it ever will.
The current situation only confirms what we and so many others have been denouncing for years: the State and its institutions are completely co-opted and partisan, serving only the ruling party, which clings to power through these very State institutions. This includes the State Defence and Security Forces, which follow illegal orders and murder citizens protesting against grave and evident rights violations and abuses of power.
The actions of the Constitutional Council (CC) are merely the latest act in this orchestrated circus. Today, we see judges behaving like soap opera actors, arrogantly and pompously presenting themselves as the ultimate arbiters of truth while we all wait anxiously for their decision about our fate.
If we recall the process of validating the highly contested and irregular 2023 municipal elections, which this same body approved, it becomes clear that expecting truth and justice from the CC is as likely as expecting well-known corrupt individuals to voluntarily turn themselves in and return all they have stolen from our country. In other words, highly improbable.
Our greatest hope at this moment is for the CC to surprise us and show that they truly stand for truth and justice so that we can rebuild our country based on the people’s rights, centred on justice and equality for all.
Until then, we will continue to remember and honour all those who, believing in a fairer country for all of us, were barbarically murdered. From mourning, we rise to struggle for the country we believe we can build together.
[New York/Frankfurt/Paris, 2nd October 2024] – On Wednesday 2nd October, climate activists are protesting in New York, where TotalEnergies is hosting its main investors. Actions are also taking place this week at the headquarters of TotalEnergies’ investors and banks in Frankfurt and Paris. Activists are calling on investors and banks to make an immediate commitment to stop issuing or buying new bonds from TotalEnergies, as well as to stop all support for companies developing new oil and gas projects.
Bonds represented more than two-thirds of TotalEnergies’ external financing in recent years (1). In 2024, TotalEnergies raised $7.25 billion through bonds, which the company will fully reimburse over decades (2).
Earlier this year some 60 NGOs called on banks and investors to stop lending to TotalEnergies, due to the energy giant’s ‘climate-wrecking strategy’ (3). Following the letter, French banks BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole announced that they would no longer participate in conventional bond issuances for companies in the oil and gas sector (4).
Climate justice movements, organizations and activist – including 350.org Justiça Ambiental, Liveable Arlington, MilieuDefensie, Stop Total France, the Toxic Bonds Network and urgewald – are urging other financial institutions to follow suit and stop support – including participating in the issuance and purchase of new bonds – for TotalEnergies and other companies developing new oil and gas projects.
While TotalEnergies’ investors will be shaking hands at its Investor Day in New York over financial support that will fund the company’s oil expansion 40 years into the future, activists will remind them of what this means for the climate. They will in particular denounce the EACOP project, which TotalEnergies continues to promote despite the heavy repression faced by communities and activists opposing it (5). So far 27 commercial banks have publicly committed not to support the EACOP project (6). The project has so far been financed by equity capital from its shareholders, including TotalEnergies (7). Bonds are likely to be significant to the development of such projects, as they allow the company to raise large amounts of money without conditions regarding their use (8).
Molly Ornati from 350Brooklyn.org : “In Uganda, community members and activists are constantly intimidated, arrested and prosecuted for defending their basic rights. Demonstrations which simply demand fair compensation, an end to displacement, and a halt to environmental destruction are met with police violence and arrests. While international banks across the globe have turned their backs on the EACOP project, they continue allowing the company to go ahead with its oil and gas projects through other financing methods such as bonds. Financiers should immediately stop distributing blank cheques to TotalEnergies.”
Protesters will also denounce the Mozambique LNG project, which has been suspended for 3 years and was recently under criticism due to reports of alleged atrocities committed by Mozambican armed forces near the project’s premises (9) and TotalEnergies’ shale gas projects in Texas (10).
Ranjana Bhandari, director of Liveable Arlington in Arlington, Texas and home to 400,000 residents exposed to Total’s ongoing urban fracking operations stated: “The ongoing fracking operations of the French energy giant TotalEnergies’ are placing thousands of families and children at risk in the city of Arlington, around Texas, and other locations across the nation and worldwide. It’s time consumers and investors demand American banks such as Citi, JP Morgan, and Bank of America stop funding these long-term bonds that are harming the very residents in the cities where these banks are operating.”
Anabela Lemos, from Justiça Ambiental, Mozambique: “The TotalEnergies gas project in Cabo Delgado is associated with land grabbing, lost livelihoods and human rights violations, alongside a violent conflict. TotalEnergies is now planning to co-develop the controversial Mphanda Nkuwa mega dam in the Zambezi river. Even before construction has started, local communities are reporting intimidations and human rights violations to force them to accept the project. If the dam goes ahead, this biodiversity hotspot might suffer irreversible damage and thousands of families will lose their lands, livelihoods and futures. Financiers are ethically bound to refuse support for TotalEnergies trail of destruction across the world.”
New York City : the action is taking place at 8:00AM at the headquarters of Citibank. Press is welcome]. Citi is the most important underwriter of TotalEnergies’s ongoing bonds (11), top bank in the US between 2021 and 2023 (12) and participated in underwriting TotalEnergies’ $3 billion bonds issue on September 10th 2024.
Frankfurt: onThursday 26 October, a protest took place in front of Deutsche Bank’s Headquarters in Frankfurt. Pictures are available here Deutsche Bank is the third most important underwriter of TotalEnergies’s ongoing bonds (11), top bank in Germany between 2021 and 2023 (12) and participated in underwriting TotalEnergies’ $4.25 billion bonds issue on April 5th 2024. DWS, Deutsche Bank’s asset management subsidiary, is the first investor of TotalEnergies in Germany (12).
Pictures are available upon request to the press contacts.
Notes :
(1) Between 2016 and 2023, 69.8% of TotalEnergies’ financing came from bonds, according to data from Banking On Climate Chaos, 2024
(2) The average maturity (date on which the bond matures and must be repaid by the issuing company) of bonds issued by TotalEnergies between 2020 and 2024 was 22 years compared to 6 years for those issued between 2000 and 2004, according to a recent study by AFII, 2024.
(7) The project’s shareholders are TotalEnergies, China National Offshore Corporation, Uganda National Oil Company and Tanzanian Petroleum Development Corporation.
26 September 2024. Statement by: Justiça Ambiental / Friends of the Earth Mozambique; Les Amis de la Terre France / Friends of the Earth France; Milieudefensie / Friends of the Earth Netherlands; Friends of the Earth Europe; Friends of the Earth Japan; Friends of the Earth US; ReCommon; Reclaim Finance.
On September 26, 2024, Politico published an article by independent journalist Alex Perry [1] which reveals information about an alleged massacre of civilians, reported to have been committed near TotalEnergies’ premises in mid 2021 by Mozambican public security forces.
Anabela Lemos, Director of Justiça Ambiental / Friends of the Earth Mozambique, says: “This information cannot be ignored by the financial institutions supporting the French fossil fuel giant’s activities in Mozambique, including the financial arms of the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy. In multiple reports and meetings, we and our partners have warned companies, banks and states about the risks associated with this project and the serious flaws in the human rights due diligence carried out by TotalEnergies [2]. TotalEnergies’ responsibility is again today called into question by this reporting on further alleged atrocities surrounding the gas project”.
The article outlines alleged events in July-September 2021, three months after a major insurgent attack on Palma town that spurred increased militarisation of the region. According to the article, Mozambican troops assaulted hundreds of civilians who were seeking safety, and imprisoned the men in windowless, metal shipping containers near the entrance of the Mozambique LNG site. The article reports that men – 180 to 250 individuals – were detained for 3 months, denied water, starved, beaten, suffocated, tortured, stabbed and, finally, most of them “disappeared”. Only 26 of the prisoners are estimated by the investigation team to have survived.” Women were subjected to humiliation and repeated sexual assault for a day or two, before being released.
Alex Perry has previously published articles about the violent conflict in the province of Cabo Delgado and the controversial impacts of the Mozambique LNG project. In the aftermath of the March and April 2021 insurgent attacks on the town of Palma, he conducted in-depth research to uncover the number of fatalities incurred during the massacre [3]. The attacks led to TotalEnergies’ declaration of force majeure and the suspension of the project in April 2021.
A legal complaint was filed in 2023 by victims’ families and attack survivors, accusing the French energy company of failing to protect its subcontractors and failing to provide fuel so that helicopters could evacuate civilians during the Palma attack [4]. Following the complaint, the French public prosecutor asked TotalEnergies’ for comments on the complaint to then decide whether to pursue the case, close it or carry out further investigations [5].
Amnesty International accused the Mozambican security forces of war crimes in 2021 [6]. Until recently, TotalEnergies was directly providing equipment and financial compensation to the Joint Task Force (JTF) of the Mozambican army under an agreement that the JTF would “ensure the security” of the project activities – and now pays the government instead [7]. A 2023 report commissioned by TotalEnergies itself concluded that a permanent link between Mozambique LNG and the Mozambican army “would have the effect […] of making the project a party to the conflict” in the meaning of the Geneva Convention. [8].
State and private actors involved in the financial support [9] of the project have been warned about the threats the project poses to regional security and human rights, as well as the climate and environmental impacts [10]. Information obtained via Freedom of Information requests has revealed that despite these warnings, as well as concerns expressed by decision makers, support for the project was pushed through [11].
The Politico journalistic investigation into this massacre draws fresh attention to TotalEnergies’ controversial links to the Mozambican army, and specifically its relationship with the forces accused of severe crimes that might be considered war crimes. According to the article, “The commandos were based on TotalEnergies’ compound. They ran their detention-and-execution operation from the petroleum giant’s gatehouse.” The Mozambican commando unit was furthermore reported to be led by an officer who said his mission was to protect the “project of Total”. The managing director of Mozambique LNG project, Maxime Rabilloud, says TotalEnergies had “no knowledge of the alleged events described”, nor “any information indicating that such events took place”. In addition, Rabilloud stated that the company had no presence on the ground at the time of the alleged events and is taking the “message very seriously given the gravity of the allegations”. The article reports that the Mozambican ministry of defense and the Mozambican presidency did not reply to requests for comment.
The article asserts, “there are grounds for a prosecutor to think that Mozambique LNG and its parent company TotalEnergies had sufficient cause to investigate whether human rights abuses were being committed by its defenders in its absence.”
The NGOs behind the “Say No to Gas! in Mozambique” campaign call on all public and private actors involved in the project and its financing to immediately act to ensure truth, justice and reparation for the survivors and the victims’ families. They call for an immediate official investigation on the events and on TotalEnergies’ potential role, due to its cooperation with security forces that are accused of severe crimes, including rape, murder, torture, which may constitute war crimes.
Press contacts
Justiça Ambiental / Friends of the Earth Mozambique: Daniel Ribeiro, daniel.ja.mz@gmail.com, +258 86 620 5608, Anabela Lemos, anabela.ja.mz@gmail.com, +258 87 195 3602
Les Amis de la Terre France / Friends of the Earth France: Lorette Philippot, lorette.philippot@amisdelaterre.org, +33 640188284
[9] 28 financial institutions took part in the 14.9 billion dollars project financing in July 2020. ECAs include Export Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM), UK Export Finance (UKEF), Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero (SACE), Atradius Dutch State Business (ADSB). Commercial banks include Société Générale (the financial advisor of TotalEnergies for the project), Crédit Agricole, JPMorgan, Mizuho Bank, Standard Chartered Bank. See full list: www.amisdelaterre.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/summary—-financial-institutions-involvement-in-the-mozambique-lng-gas-project-2.pdf
[10] The Mozambique LNG project will produce between 3.3 and 4.5 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent over its lifecycle, more than the combined annual greenhouse gas emissions of all 27 EU countries. Friends of the Earth EWNI and the New Economics Foundation, October 2021. Tip of the iceberg : the future of fossil fuel extraction. https://policy.friendsoftheearth.uk/print/pdf/node/237
We are social movements, civil society organisations, grassroots communities, peasants, lawyers, academics, experts, working people and others, from different provinces of Mozambique and also from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Togo, Uganda, Nigeria, Tunisia, Cameroon, Algeria, Senegal, and allies from Japan, Mexico, Portugal and United States of America.
We met for the 8th Workshop on Corporate Impunity and Human Rights in Maputo, Mozambique, from 12-15 August 2024, organised by Justiça Ambiental JA!. Our workshop was conducted in multiple languages including Portuguese, Xangana, Nyungwe, Makonde, Swahili, Makua, isiZulu, Arabic, English, French, Spanish.
We acknowledge the struggles for justice and survival of our peoples and communities, especially of women and children. We stand against apartheid, occupation, war, conflict, militarisation and genocide, in Palestine, Cabo Delgado, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bangladesh and everywhere. We reiterate our unconditional solidarity with peoples resistance and struggles for justice everywhere.
We note that the capitalist, colonial, patriarchal, classist, racist and deeply unequal system is an enemy of peoples and planet; it places profits above life and plunders territories and common goods.
We shared about African political economy, colonialism and the violent power of transnational corporations. We note that the global north, enabled by our own political class, continues to perpetuate the myth that Africa will remain poor if we don’t exploit our fossil fuels; thereby drawing many African countries into perpetual economic entrapment through a dependence on fossil fuels which exacerbate the climate crisis. Our African governments misuse the concept of the ‘right to development’ to continue enriching themselves. We assert our collective and individual human right to a dignified life, to a development that responds adequately to cultural and social realities within the African context; however this is not what is being offered to us. Our States have the legal obligation to protect, respect, promote and fulfil the human rights of their citizens.
We know too well that human rights are not just an imported concept, they are deeply linked to African histories and lives, as affirmed in the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights. We denounce the impacts that are already affecting our peoples lives and livelihoods, from climate change to fossil fuels, extractivism, land grabbing and dispossession. People are suffering from multi-crises that they had no part in creating.
We denounce the structural architecture of impunity and unregulated power of transnational corporations and the playbook they use to spread denial and disinformation. We denounce the corporate capture of our democracies causing shrinking civic space and increased attacks on environmental human rights defenders. We reject “free” trade and investment agreements that undermine the sovereignty of our States.
We denounce the architecture of climate injustice. The countries of the global north have created the climate crisis and they must act first and fastest to address it. But the opposite is happening. We need to phase out fossil fuels and support a just transition that guarantees sovereignty in the global south. Our governments must do everything possible to protect the peoples and all forms of life already affected by the climate crisis, including in COP climate negotiations where fossil fuel lobbies have been allowed to dominate the agendas and create barriers to action.
We assert the need to cut emissions at source. No forests or carbon sinks can compensate for these emissions. The forests, our lands and our rivers are our life, they are not new markets for capital. African forests must not be captured. There should be nothing about us without us. We assert our right to say no.
KODAK Digital Still Camera
OUR VISION
We are constructing our vision for the world we want to live in, the world we want to leave for our children. Our demands are as follows:
On Corporate Impunity and the Climate Crisis:
We demand a strong and effective UN Binding Treaty on transnational corporations and human rights, so that they are held liable for the crimes they commit.
We demand that current financial injustices, like inequality, debt, tax and wage evasion and illicit financial flows are dismantled along with the institutions that drive these processes.
We support struggles against dirty energy and fossil fuels that challenge the impunity of the system. We join the call for the establishment of a Peoples World Commission on a fair, fast, full, funded Fossil Fuel Phase out, to discuss how this phase out will actually happen, and support the process towards a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty.
We reject all false solutions including carbon markets, REDD, offsets, geoengineering, net zero, “natural” gas, hydrogen, mega-dams, industrial plantations and delaying tactics.
On Rights, Sovereignty, Repair and Reparations:
We call for socially-owned renewable energy systems.
We demand the strengthening of rights-based frameworks, including land and forest rights.
We support community forest management and peasant agroecology towards food sovereignty.
We demand healing justice and reparations for communities whose rights have been violated.
We affirm that there is no climate justice under occupation, apartheid, conflict and militarisation.
We denounce and reject the normalisation of war and conflicts and the accompanying dehumanisation (e.g. Palestine, Sudan, DRC, Western Sahara, Cabo Delgado and everywhere).
On Feminist Economics:
We support a new economy for people and planet – a solidary and circular economy that values and centres care work and bodily autonomy; an economy that centres sustainability and abundance of collective life, as opposed to profit and individual gain. From extraction to regeneration.
We call for the reclamation of the public sphere to ensure peoples rights and support public services.
Above all, our vision is based on our human values of solidarity, cooperation, Ubuntu and Eti-uwem. We will continue fighting, resisting, mobilising, organising, and moreover transforming our societies. We assert our right to say NO!
GROUPS / COLLECTIVES PRESENT AT THE WORKSHOP:
Advocacy Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture (ACSA) – Uganda
ALTERNACTIVA – Acção pela Emancipação Social – Mozambique
Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) – South Africa
Associação de Cooperação Para o Desenvolvimento – Mozambique
Associação de Jovens Combatentes Montes Errego (AJOCME) – Mozambique
Associação dos Jornalistas Ambientais – Mozambique
Associação LaVatsongo – Mozambique
Bairro Bagamoio Moatize – Mozambique
Basilwizi Trust – Zimbabwe
Centre Congolais pour le Développement Durable (CODED) – République Démocratique du Congo
Centre pour la Justice Environnementale – Togo
Centro de Jornalismo de Investigação Moçambicano (CJIM)
Centro para Desenvolvimento Alternativo (CDA) – Mozambique
Don’t Gas Africa
Dynamique pour le Droit, la Démocratie et le Développement Durable (D5) – République Démocratique du Congo
Earthlife Africa
Entembeni Crisis Forum (ECF) – South Africa
Environmental Rights Action, FoE Nigeria
Environment Governance Institute – Uganda
Fair Finance Coalition – Southern Africa
FishNet Alliance Network – Africa
Fórum Mulher – Mozambique
Friends of the Earth Africa
groundWork, Friends of the Earth South Africa
Health of Mother Earth Foundation – Nigeria / Africa
Hikone – Mozambique
Justiça Ambiental JA! – Mozambique
KULIMA – Mozambique
La Via Campesina Southern and Eastern Africa
Missão Tabita – Mozambique
Mukadzi-Colaboratório Feminista – Mozambique
Natural Justice – Africa
No REDD in Africa Network (NRAN)
Observatório das Mulheres – Mozambique
Oilwatch Africa
Power Shift Africa
Resource Rights Africa – Uganda
Right to Say No Campaign – South Africa
Rural Women’s Assembly (RWA) – Southern Africa
South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) – South Africa
Southern Africa Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power
Southern Africa Green Revolutionary Council (SAGRC)
Support Centre for Land Change (SCLC) – South Africa
União Nacional de Camponeses (UNAC) – Mozambique
Uganda Land Owners Association
WoMin African Alliance
ZIMSOFF – Zimbabwe
350Africa.org
Afrikagrupperna
Climáximo – Portugal
FIAN International
Friends of the Earth International
Friends of the Earth Japan
Global Campaign to Reclaim Peoples Sovereignty, Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity
Global Forest Coalition
International Rivers (IR)
Oilwatch International
Transnational Institute (TNI)
World Rainforest Movement (WRM)
IN SOLIDARITY:
Actions Internationales pour le Développement et le Climat AidClimat
Africa Climate Movements Building Space
Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ)
Associação Consciente Sociedade – Mozambique
Associação Homens pela Mudança (HOPEM) – Mozambique
Bio Vision Africa (BiVA)
CHePEA
Centre de Recherches et d’Appui pour les Alternatives de Développement – Océan Indien (CRAAD-OI)
Coligação de 4 Bairros da Localidade Canhavane – Mozambique
Egyptian Organization for Environmental rights
Enviro Vito NPO – South Africa
Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy and Development FENRAD – Nigeria
Grassroots International
Green Advocates International
Innovation pour le Développement et la Protection de l’Environnement – République Démocratique du Congo
JOINT – NGO league in Mozambique
Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center – FoE Philippines
Les Amis de la Terre – Togo
Ligue des Jeunes Paysans de la République Démocratique du Congo (LJP-RDC)
Malamba-Mazuene, Inhambane – Mozambique
Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB) – Brazil
Muyissi Environnement – Gabon
National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) – Uganda
PENGON – Friends of the Earth Palestine
Protecting Our Environment Today (POET)
Thenjinosi Community Development Project – South Africa
University of Johannesburg – Centre for Social Change, South Africa
West Coast Food Sovereignty and Solidarity Forum – South Africa
*Maputo, Mozambique – [Date]* – Justiça Ambiental (JA!), a mozambican association that works to protect and defend the environment and the communities that depend on it in Mozambique, has launched a public petition in collaboration with local residents, urging the governments of Mozambique, Botswana, and Zimbabwe to halt the proposed deepwater port development in Techobanine. The development threatens the rich biodiversity of Maputo National Park and the well-being of local communities.
The Techobanine port project, a collaboration between the three countries, proposes the construction of a mineral export port on Mozambique’s southern coast. However, environmental experts, local residentes and civil society organizations, including JA!, warn of severe ecological destruction, including the degradation of marine ecosystems, the disruption of critical wildlife habitats, and the displacement of coastal communities.
“Techobanine is home to unique and endangered species, including humpback whales, dolphins, and sea turtles. Its pristine coral reefs and interconnected freshwater lakes are irreplaceable, and the proposed port development would have catastrophic effects on these ecosystems,” said *Anabela Lemos*, Director of Justiça Ambiental.
*Key concerns of the Techobanine port project include:*
– *Destruction of Biodiversity:* The proposed site lies within Maputo National Park, a critical habitat for marine and terrestrial wildlife.
– *Loss of Livelihoods:* Tourism, which supports 90% of local employment, would be severely impacted, jeopardizing thousands of jobs in coastal communities.
– *Marine Pollution and Habitat Disruption:* The dredging process and the influx of ships and trucks transporting coal and minerals will introduce pollution, noise, and habitat loss, endangering marine life and affecting coastal ecosystems.
The petition, now open for signatures, calls on the Mozambique government to:
– Suspend plans for the Techobanine port development.
– Consider alternative locations that do not threaten protected areas such as Maputo National Park.
In addition to local communities, JA! is seeking international support for the petition, inviting global environmental organizations and individuals to join the cause. The petition has already gained traction on social media platforms and among environmental advocates globally.
“We urge the Mozambique Parliament and the international community to consider the long-term environmental damage this project could cause. There are sustainable alternatives that prioritize both economic growth and environmental protection,” Lemos added.
Justiça Ambiental (JA!) is a non-profit organization dedicated to environmental justice in Mozambique. Its mission is to promote sustainable development, protect Mozambique’s natural ecosystems, and advocate for the rights of local communities affected by environmental degradation. Through advocacy, education, and activism, JA! aims to empower communities and influence policies that support environmental conservation and climate justice.
JA4change 