Abuses surrounding TotalEnergies‘ LNG project in Mozambique are piling up; Dutch support irresponsible

In 2021, the Dutch state export credit insurer Atradius DSB provided export support to the Dutch dredging company Van Oord for its part in TotalEnergies' LNG project in Palma, northern Mozambique. Since the declaration of force majeure in 2021 – after the attack on Palma – Atradius has had the opportunity to reassess the project. Both ENDS and Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth NL) have been arguing against this export support for years because of the major risks to people and the environment posed by the project.

We welcome the fact that Minister Heinen of Finance promised at the beginning of March to launch an independent investigation into reported human rights violations that took place in the months after the attack on Palma. The atrocities of this attack were made public last year by magazine Politico. However, it is still unclear how and by whom this investigation will be carried out. Both ENDS, Milieudefensie and other civil society organisations are concerned about this.

TotalEnergies: ‘No casualties’

The French public prosecutor's office will investigate the deaths of contractors and subcontractors of TotalEnergies' gas project during the attack on Palma in 2021. The oil and gas company is suspected of having failed to adequately protect its personnel. However, in documents made public following a FOI (Freedom of Information) request from Both ENDS, Milieudefensie, SOMO and Friends of the Earth Europe we see that TotalEnergies claimed at the time, to Atradius DSB among others, that there were no casualties among their employees and subcontractors.

US export support

It is striking that the American export credit insurer US EXIM suddenly re-approved their support for the gas project the day before the French Public Prosecutor's Office made their announcement. TotalEnergies lobbied hard during the Biden administration to make a quick decision on the project, but to no avail. After Trump took office, a new board was installed at US EXIM – one of their first decisions was to approve the export suport for the Mozambique LNG project.

While EXIM was meeting about the five billion in support, local communities were still demonstrating fiercely at the TotalEnergies site because the company continues to be negligent with regard to compensating the affected communities.

FOI requests blocked

Both ENDS, Milieudefensie, SOMO and Friends of the Earth Europe submitted FOI requests to the relevant Dutch ministries in 2020 and 2023 regarding the Mozambique LNG project and the Dutch involvement. On 14 January, the Ministry of Finance decided to release the last part of the information from the 2020 FOI request.

However, a large part of the documents that the Ministry of Finance considered appropriate to make public were not published. Both ENDS and the other applicants of the FOI request received a notification that US EXIM and TotalEnergies have interfered in the procedure and have blocked the publication. These include reports of internal meetings of the ministries, annexes of the advice of Atradius DSB to the ministers, an analysis of the impact of security on the operations of the project and information about environmental and social risks of the project.

Given recent developments – the sudden approval from US EXIM and the investigation by the French Public Prosecutor's Office – it is very worrying that the publication of important documents that should be made public under Dutch law has been blocked in the weeks leading up to this.

Call for an independent investigation

In response to the above abuses, civil society organisations from all over the world, including Mozambique, have repeatedly called for an independent investigation into what happened around the LNG project during the attack on Palma. It is very important that this investigation is carried out by an independent party that enjoys everyone's trust, also for the safety of the victims and witnesses. According to local CSOs, the only parties that qualify are international or regional human rights mechanisms such as the OHCHR and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.

Dutch support would be irresponsible

Both ENDS and Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) are working closely with civil society organisations in Mozambique to follow up on the events in Palma and monitor any subsequent human rights violations. We are therefore pleased that the minister has agreed to await the conclusions of further investigation before making a decision on whether to approve the Dutch export credit insurance for the contribution of the Dutch dredging company Van Oord to the project.

However, to us it is already clear: with the ongoing unrest on the ground, the many serious abuses surrounding the project and the recent announcement by the public prosecutor's office in France, the Netherlands should not in any way provide public support for this project.