Page 12 - AfrOil Week 03 2023

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

TotalEnergies and its partners suspended work on the onshore complex in March 2021 (Image: AfDB)

London Court of Appeal dismisses bid to

bar UKEF from funding Mozambique LNG

MOZAMBIQUE FRIENDS of the Earth, an international envi- Finance follows robust and internationally
ronmental group, has failed to overturn a lower recognised due diligence before providing any
court ruling green-lighting the UK’s plan to pro- support for overseas projects,” an agency spokes-
vide funding for the Mozambique LNG project. person said on January 13.
The non-governmental organisation (NGO) For its part, TotalEnergies has responded
has been seeking to prevent UK Export Finance positively and talked up the anticipated benefits
(UKEF), the British government’s export credit of Mozambique LNG. A spokesperson for the
agency, from upholding a pledge to provide up French major said on January 13 that the pro-
to $1.15bn in funding for Mozambique LNG. It ject was expected to “deliver a range of social
has premised its case on the argument that the and economic benefits to Mozambique and is
project, led by TotalEnergies (France), contra- a key part of Mozambique’s aim to diversify its
venes the Paris Agreement on climate change. economy.”
But on January 13, London’s Court of Appeal The spokesperson also emphasised the com-
ruled against Friends of the Earth. Judge Geof- pany’s strong interest in climate-related issues,
frey Vos wrote in his decision that UKEF’s saying: “TotalEnergies supports the goals of the
determination that Mozambique LNG was 2015 Paris Agreement, which calls for reduc-
compatible with the Paris Agreement was “ten- ing greenhouse gas emissions in the context of
able” and further noted that the agency was not sustainable development and the fight against
required to be certain that its decisions about poverty.”
funding dovetailed exactly with the govern- Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth took the
ment’s climate-related commitments. opposite stance, saying that the group had not
Furthermore, Vos noted, the Paris Agree- exhausted its legal remedies and was consider-
ment was “only one of a range of factors” that ing filing an appeal in the UK Supreme Court.
UKEF considered when deciding whether to In a statement, it quoted Rachel Kennerley, an
support Mozambique LNG, which is likely to international climate activist affiliated with the
carry a price tag of around $20bn. group, as saying: “This extremely disappointing
judgment doesn’t alter our firm belief that the
Responses UK government should not be supporting the
UKEF has welcomed the Court of Appeal’s Mozambique gas project or any fossil fuel pro-
ruling. “We remain confident that UK Export ject at home or abroad.”

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 03 19•January•2023