Is the Netherlands insuring a controversial gas extraction project in Mozambique?
At the end of last week, oil and gas company Total announced that, through its export credit insurer Atradius DSB, the Dutch government is participating in a funding package for a controversial gas extraction project in Mozambique. The project, in which various Dutch and foreign companies are involved, is having a deep impact on the local population and the natural environment in the area. Which Dutch companies the government will be insuring is not yet clear.
Fishers and farmers already affected
The approval of the funding package means that the government assumes that all the companies involved in the Total-led gas project are complying with international human rights and environmental agreements. Both ENDS, however, has serious doubts about this. "The preparations for the project are in full swing and the people who live in the area are already paying the price," says Anne de Jonghe of Both ENDS, who has had contact with the fishers' and farmers' organisations in the area. "Although the project provides work for some people and brings facilities to the area that were not there before, most of the local inhabitants are seriously concerned. Many have had to move to places where they have no access to land or fishing grounds, so that they can no longer make a living. Although agreements were made within the project to ensure that fishers can continue to fish, their fishing grounds at sea are now much less accessible."
Violence in the region
In the region where the investments are being made, there is also increasing violence by 'insurgents'. Dutch ministers Sigrid Kaag and Stef Blok recently informed the Dutch House of Representatives about this issue. In July, the gas developments were explicitly threatened in Al-Naba, the newspaper of the Islamic State (IS). IS propaganda focuses mainly on who benefits from the exploitation of natural resources in the area. The Mozambique government, the investors and the companies in the area do not speak openly about the increasing violence, and rely on (para)military support to protect the project.
Agreements not open to the public
To ensure that the project is implemented responsibly, Atradius DSB and Total have made agreements on how Total is going to comply with international guidelines and how Atradius DSB is going to monitor that compliance. "But these agreements are unfortunately not open to the public," says De Jonghe. "Transparency is crucial for the farmers and fishers in the area, so that all stakeholders know what is going to happen and can preferably have a say in what that is. It is, after all, their living environment and their future."
Multi-Stakeholder Platform
The Dutch government has set up a Multi-Stakeholder Platform in Mozambique so that the Mozambique and Dutch governments, donors, the private sector and civil society can exchange information and coordinate their plans. The local people have not yet had any real benefit from the Platform, as it is dominated by the private sector, there is a language barrier and the majority of the people at the table do not come from the area where the project is taking place. Moreover, partly because of the violence between different parties in the region, it can be dangerous for local inhabitants and organisations to speak out.
Local people's interests
Both ENDS has been calling on the Dutch government for many years to stop supporting the fossil fuel sector. "If the Netherlands does decide to provide public support," De Jonghe says, "it has a responsibility to ensure that it is does so properly. Atradius DSB should, at the very least, take strict measures to ensure that the companies involved comply with the rules and are transparent about their plans, the consequences for local people and how they will be compensated. In addition, the concerns and interests of all farming and fishing communities must be taken seriously in the Multi Stakeholder Platform."
For more information
Themes
Read more about this subject
-
Dossier /Export Credit Agencies: Who pays the price?
Both ENDS calls on the government only to provide export credit insurance to sustainable projects that cause no social and/or environmental damage in the countries where they take place.
-
Dossier /Gas in Mozambique
In 2011 one of the world’s largest gas reserves was found in the coastal province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of Mozambique. A total of 35 billion dollars has been invested to extract the gas. Dozens of multinationals and financiers are involved in these rapid developments. It is very difficult for the people living in Cabo Delgado to exert influence on the plans and activities, while they experience the negative consequences. With the arrival of these companies, they are losing their land.
-
Letter / 4 May 2023
Letter from NGOs to Dutch export credit agency: CSR policy must be strengthened
The Dutch government, through its export credit agency Atradius DSB (ADSB), provides export support to companies that undertake activities abroad. The state wants projects it insures to have no negative consequences for people and the environment and therefore sets requirements for corporate social responsibility (CSR). A consultation on CSR policy ran until the end of April, to which a coalition of thirteen social organisations from the Netherlands and abroad, including Both ENDS and Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth the Netherlands), responded.
-
News / 29 May 2024Serious questions about possible Dutch export support for Mozambique's LNG gas project
Members of Parliament Daniëlle Hirsch (PVDA-GL) and Christine Teunissen (PVDD) ask serious questions about possible Dutch export support for the Mozambique LNG gas project. Both ENDS has been advocating for the file for years.
-
News / 20 February 2023Almost 60 organisations send a letter about fossil export support to Dutch Parliament
Today, a letter, undersigned by almost 60 organisations from countries that face the consequences of fossil fuel projects or stand in solidarity, has been sent to the Dutch Members of Parliament. This Thursday, a debate about the export credit facility and the policies around it, will take place in the Dutch Parliament. The coalition calls upon Dutch politicians and policy makers to stand up against any form of export support for fossil fuel projects that are to be executed by Dutch companies abroad, expecially in the global South.
-
External link / 24 August 2022A breakthrough in finance, a break with fossil fuels (Annual Report 2021)
Both ENDS works with partners worldwide to amplify the voices of communities that are experiencing first-hand the devastating social and environmental impacts of unsustainable financial policies and practices – from climate change to pollution to forced displacement. For more than two decades, we have worked to draw attention to an obscure, yet hugely influential type of financial institution: export credit agencies (ECAs).
-
News / 4 May 2021Is the Netherlands’ export credit insurance support for fossil projects legal?
Today, two independent experts brought out a legal opinion on the obligations of countries and their export credit agencies under international law in relation to export support for fossil fuels. According to the report, emissions by fossil fuels and the related infrastructure need to be reduced urgently.
-
Press release / 11 November 2020Export support for dirty energy in Africa
Since the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement, rich countries have provided almost 50 times as much export support for fossil fuel related projects as for clean energy projects in four African countries. This is the conclusion of a report written by five environmental organisations from Ghana, Nigeria, Togo and Uganda, in cooperation with Friends of the Earth Netherlands and Both ENDS. The rich countries insured energy projects with a total value of 11 billion US dollars through their export credit agencies (ECAs). More than half of this export support is related to fossil fuels. Only 1% went to sustainable renewable energy.
-
Blog / 28 January 2025Sinking promises in Manila
Yesterday, Global Witness published a new report, "Sunk Costs" - in which I had a modest role to play - that comes up with new facts about the disastrous New Manila International Airport project in the Philippines, for which the Dutch dredging multinational Boskalis received Dutch export credit insurance (ekv) of €1.5 billion.
-
Publication / 11 November 2020
-
Dossier /Fair Green and Global Alliance (FGG)
Together with civil society organisations from all over the world, the Fair Green and Global (FGG) Alliance aims for socially just, inclusive and environmentally sustainable societies in the Netherlands and the Global South.
-
Video / 21 October 2014The meandering roads of Suape
This video tells the story of the families that were forced out of there homes and evicted from their lands in the Suápe region in Brazil. The local authorities have decided to expand the shipyard and the sea-harbour, but they have failed to take into account the negative impacts on the local people and their environment. Dutch company Van Oord is executing part of the dredging, supported by export credit agency Atradius DSB.
-
Video / 21 October 2014Tatuoca, a stolen island
This video tells the story of the families that were forced out of there homes and evicted from their lands in the Suápe region in Brazil. The local authorities have decided to expand the shipyard and the sea-harbour, but they have failed to take into account the negative impacts on the local people and their environment. Dutch company Van Oord is executing part of the dredging, supported by export credit agency Atradius DSB.
-
Dossier /Paris Proof Export Support
Almost two-thirds of the export credit insurances that Atradius DSB provided in the 2012-2018 period went to the fossil energy sector. That is contrary to the climate agreements that the Netherlands signed in Paris.
-
Press release / 19 May 2021Despite violence, 900 million euros in Dutch export support to Van Oord in Mozambique
Amsterdam, 19 May 2021 – On 25 March, a day after violent attacks in northern Mozambique, the Dutch state decided to provide dredging company Van Oord with export credit insurance worth 900 million euros for its activities in the country. The company is conducting dredging operations for a highly controversial gas project that, according to Mozambican interest groups, is playing a prominent role in the escalating violence in the region. Civil society organisations Both ENDS, Milieudefensie and Oil Change International and their Mozambican partners are alarmed about the situation and have called the Dutch government and Dutch export credit agency Atradius DSB to account.
-
Press release / 19 May 2022122 CSOs warn signatory countries they have only six months left to meet COP26 commitment to end international public finance for all fossil fuels
Today, 122 civil society groups are releasing letters to eleven government signatories to the Glasgow Statement on International Public Support for the Clean Energy Transition, laying out the actions they must take as soon as possible to meet their commitment. In this joint statement at COP26, 35 countries and 5 public finance institutions committed to end their international public finance for 'unabated' fossil fuels by the end of 2022, and instead prioritise their "support fully towards the clean energy transition."
-
News / 18 June 2024Dutch government threatens to put human lives at risk again in infamous TotalEnergies gas project in Mozambique
The Dutch government threatens to blunder again by providing export support for TotalEnergies' controversial gas project in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. This follows from an analysis of 9000 documents from FOI requests, commissioned by Milieudefensie and Both ENDS. Anne de Jonghe, Both ENDS: “When the export support was issued in 2021, critical voices were minimized, while TotalEnergies was heard and trusted. That should not happen again."
-
External link / 29 May 2019Export credit agencies’ role in development finance (Annual Report 2018)
Export credit agencies (ECAs) play a central role within the complicated web of global development finance. In 2018, Both ENDS invested in strengthening cooperation among organisations working on ECAs, building a strategic global collaboration to stop ECAs' support of fossil fuels and improve their environment and human rights record.
-
News / 30 June 2020Extra export support from the government must stimulate green growth
Almost 40 civil society organisations and networks from around the world, including Both ENDS, today sent a letter to Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Sigrid Kaag and State Secretary for Finance Hans Vijlbrief. They are asking the ministers to ensure that the expansion of export credit insurance as a result of the Corona crisis contributes to a green recovery.
-
News / 28 August 2017Politicians ask for sustainable export support
Last June, Both ENDS published a report which showed clearly that, through export credit insurance provider Atradius Dutch State Business (ADSB), the Netherlands is supporting the fossil fuel sector on a large scale. Between 2012 and 2015, ADSB provided billions of euros in insurance and guarantees, on behalf of the State of the Netherlands, to fossil-related export projects. This support is completely out of line with the Paris Climate Agreement. On 20 June, members of parliament Lammert van Raan (PvdD) and Sandra Beckerman (SP) submitted questions to the State Secretaries for Finance and for Infrastructure and the Environment.
