French Court Dismisses Landmark Case Against TotalEnergies' East Africa Oil Project
On Tuesday, a French court dismissed a groundbreaking case against French energy giant TotalEnergies, filed by six NGOs that aimed to suspend its massive oil project in Uganda and Tanzania. The project includes the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which is being jointly developed by TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), along with the state-owned Uganda National Oil Company. The $10 billion project aims to transport crude from vast oilfields developed in Lake Albert to a Tanzanian port on the Indian Ocean.
The NGOs had argued that TotalEnergies failed to adhere to a "duty of vigilance" under a 2017 French law that compels companies to avoid grave harm to human rights, health, safety, and the environment. They claimed that the project took land from over 100,000 people without adequate compensation and drilled wells in the biodiversity-rich Murchison Falls National Park on the shores of Lake Albert.
However, the court ruled the case "inadmissible," stating that the plaintiffs did not correctly follow court procedures against TotalEnergies. The court said that the plaintiffs submitted accounts that were "substantially different" from those presented to TotalEnergies in a formal notice in 2019 when the case was initiated.
The ruling is the first instance of the "duty of vigilance" being tested in a courtroom. Several other French companies, including Casino, Suez, Yves Rocher, and BNP Paribas, are also facing legal proceedings for failure to comply with the law.
Environmentalists have been strongly opposed to the project, while it has been hailed as an economic boon for Uganda and Tanzania, where many people live in poverty. The lake Albert region is estimated to contain 6.5 billion barrels of crude, with 1.4 billion barrels considered currently recoverable.
The NGOs can appeal the decision, and they stated that they would speak to the affected communities about next steps.
