'Dutch government acts inconspicuously and carelessly in the reassessment of the Mozambique gas project'

SOMO and Both ENDS strongly condemn the newly revealed investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) case filed by Petrogas, an Omani oil and gas company operating two shallow-water gas fields in the Dutch North Sea, against the Netherlands under the Netherlands-Oman bilateral investment treaty (BIT).

The updated complaint mechanism of the development banks FMO, DEG, and Proparco marks an important step forward. Organizations that participated in the consultation acknowledge the efforts to improve the mechanism. At the same time, they emphasize that much still needs to be done to make the policy truly effective, transparent, and independent.

Across Mozambique, land represents more than just territory. It is the cornerstone of livelihoods, culture, and autonomy for many communities. When companies arrive, claiming large portions for mining, oil exploration or agribusiness, residents face significant challenges in asserting their rights. Mozambique’s Land Law (1997) grants communities user rights, ensuring they can occupy and use land for subsistence and cultural purposes.

Following Both ENDS & Kebekatche Women Development & Research Centre participation in Shell’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) and a formal follow-up in writing, the response received from Shell plc raises more questions than it answers.

Both ENDS and SOMO welcome the signing of the agreement of understanding between four Indigenous Ngäbe communities in Panama and the European development banks FMO and DEG on June 17th 2025. The arrangement includes a community development program that, together with a public statement issued by the banks, aims to recognize and mitigate some of the negative impacts caused by the Barro Blanco hydropower dam. We wish to congratulate the community-based organisation Movimiento 10 de Abril (M10) for its perseverance to seek justice for the affected communities, and we acknowledge the commitment of FMO and DEG to pursue a solution to their long-standing dispute with the communities arising from their partial financing of the hydropower project since 2011.

The ocean emerged strengthened from the UN Ocean Conference in Nice. More countries are supporting a ban on deep-sea mining, more marine protected areas are being established, and more pledges are being made to fight pollution. The question now is whether countries will follow through on their commitments. Because the ocean movement faces a camp of powerful interests.

This article was originally posted in Dutch on MO*Magazine.

The FMO development bank is proud of its results and the opportunities it seizes where commercial banks fail to act. But do the bank's actions really help, ask Anne de Jonghe and Nick Middeldorp. 

On Friday 14 March, the French Public Prosecutor's Office announced that it would launch an official investigation into TotalEnergies’ involvement in involuntary manslaughter during the attacks on Palma, the location of their LNG project. This umpteenth abuse makes it clear that the Netherlands cannot in any way provide public support for this project.