Already contested for its impact on the climate and because of the exactions committed on-site, the Mozambique LNG project will also negatively impact biodiversity, despite TotalEnergies’ promises.
The third article of our GreenFakes series looks into a climate bomb that TotalEnergies wants to exploit at all costs, despite massacres and lawsuits. On January 22, 126 NGOs called on banks to halt their financial support for Mozambique LNG, the $20 billion liquefied natural gas megaproject operated by the French hydrocarbon giant in northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado region, which had been ravaged by a dirty war between the authoritarian government in power in Maputo and an ultra-violent armed group affiliated to the Islamic State.
Work on the liquefaction plant, which TotalEnergies had hoped to restart in 2024 , is still frozen, following the massacre of over 1,000 people in March 2021 by the militants. The multinational is accused of failing in its duty to protect the employees of its subcontractors, many of whom died. Following a complaint from survivors and victims’ families, a preliminary investigation for “manslaughter” and “non-assistance to a person in danger” was opened in May 2024 by the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office. TotalEnergies denies these accusations.
Politico also revealed that around a hundred villagers were massacred inside the gas site, this time by Mozambican soldiers paid by TotalEnergies to protect its installations. According to Le Monde, the company had been informed as early as 2021 of other exactions committed by these same soldiers.
Mozambique LNG is also a disaster for the climate – the exploitation and consumption of gas from this huge offshore field will emit up to 4.4 billion tons of CO2, more than the annual emissions of the European Union.
But that’s not all. The project will also harm the environment and wildlife, both at sea and on land, even though TotalEnergies had promised the contrary. These are the findings of Mediapart’s latest investigation in the “GreenFakes” series, based on confidential documents obtained by the NGO Climate Whistleblowers.
When TotalEnergies bought 26% of the Mozambique LNG project in 2019 from US oil company Anadarko, it promised to comply with the PS6 standard drawn up by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a subsidiary of the World Bank. This standard stipulates that the project must cause no “net loss” of biodiversity and even a “net gain” for “critical habitats” hosting endangered species.
However, Anadarko’s “biodiversity action plan” drawn up in 2019 just before the takeover, which TotalEnergies has kept secret, shows that the PS6 standard has not been met. When Mediapart contacted them, the company denied this, but refused to respond to the specific points we made.
The PS6 standard requires TotalEnergies to avoid environmental damage as far as possible, and to compensate for that which is deemed unavoidable. However, the proposed measures are so vague that the biodiversity action plan does not comply with European standards, according to an expert who assessed the document for Mediapart. TotalEnergies declined to comment but stressed that its plan has been validated by the Mozambican authorities.
The 2019 “biodiversity action plan” begins by stressing that, due to the paucity of available data on flora and fauna in this remote region of Mozambique, further studies are needed to quantify and manage the impacts of the project. In short, TotalEnergies was unable to know whether it was complying with the PS6 standard due to a lack of data. The company claims to have carried out “additional assessments” but refused to share them with us.
The report points out that the Afungi Peninsula, which contains the 3,500-hectare area granted to TotalEnergies, is home to high species diversity, with over 150 plants found only in the region, ten of which are in danger of extinction. Several vulnerable or threatened animal species, including the Madagascar heron and the African wild dog, are also found in the area. The destruction of these critical habitats, including forests and wetlands, is likely to be the most significant impact, which has been described as “major” for mammals.
To limit the damage, TotalEnergies agreed in 2020 to reduce the project’s footprint by 645 hectares. However, our analysis of satellite images shows that the company has already destroyed 320 hectares in the most ecologically sensitive “red zones”, including 110 hectares in areas that TotalEnergies had promised to preserve.
The project, which includes the drilling of offshore wells, gas pipelines and a port, will also damage coastal and marine environments. The confidential 2019 “Biodiversity Action Plan” points out that the area is home to many of Mozambique’s best-preserved biodiversity hotspots. These include a coral reef of unique diversity, Posidonia meadows, and mangrove forests. Here too, the project threatens several protected species, including fish and turtles. The report also highlights the negative impact that well drilling and marine traffic will have on dolphins and whales.
In its environmental impact study, carried out a year later and published in 2020, TotalEnergies promised to mitigate the damage, for example, by destroying 100 meters of coral and seagrass meadows instead of the planned 300 meters, to build its pipeline. However, our satellite analysis shows that the company has already damaged the seabed close to the beach over a length of 1,400 meters to build the port.
TotalEnergies also promised in 2020 to implement a series of mitigation measures to ultimately achieve a “minor” or “negligible” impact on most of the environmental issues highlighted. However, these measures are not always described precisely and must be detailed in other documents to be drawn up at a later date, which TotalEnergies has not yet published.
The impact study acknowledges, however, that despite the efforts envisaged, the negative impact of dredging, i.e., the raking and thus destruction of the seabed, will be major, as sediment deposition and water pollution by suspended particles will be unavoidable. TotalEnergies also claims to be unable to limit the development of invasive species and the damage its project will cause to mangroves, with an impact that is described as ‘moderate’.
In short, between the destruction of hundreds of hectares of natural areas on land and damage to the seabed, TotalEnergies acknowledges that the Mozambique LNG project will harm the environment. To comply with the PS6 standard, i.e., to cause no “net loss” of biodiversity and a “net gain” for endangered species, the oil company must, therefore, compensate for the damage.
However, the measures proposed in the 2019 Biodiversity Action Plan fall short of the mark. The document merely proposes to “identify,” with the help of the Mozambican government and NGOs, projects likely to avoid biodiversity losses or restore biodiversity elsewhere. In short, there’s nothing concrete. The report adds that a “strong task force” and “robust scientific data” will be needed to develop these projects.
In February 2021, TotalEnergies commissioned the French consultancy Biotope to carry out a study on the ‘residual impacts’ of the project on biodiversity and the search for compensation projects. The mission was invoiced at just 3,150 euros, an extremely low amount for such a large-scale project. Biotope and TotalEnergies declined to comment on whether additional payments had been made.
Also, in February 2021, TotalEnergies Mozambique paid Biotope 6150 euros to help develop a “biodiversity communication package.” Clearly, the oil giant has spent twice as much on greening its communications as on studying how best to repair the damage it has caused to the environment, which sounds a lot like greenwashing. When contacted, Biotope and TotalEnergies did not respond.
In any case, four years on, the report commissioned from Biotope has still not been published, and TotalEnergies has not announced any plans for ecological compensation. The company has assured us that its “environmental management plan” includes “preventive and compensatory measures” but has refused to tell us what these consist of.
The company still has time to look into the matter. According to an article published in the Financial Times on January 22, TotalEnergies has been forced to postpone the resumption of work once again, due to the security situation in the region.
Black Box
When contacted by Mediapart, Biotope did not respond. TotalEnergies sent us the following reply:
Mozambique LNG applies an environmental management and biodiversity conservation strategy in line with IFC Performance Standard 6 (PS6) and Mozambican environmental regulations, validated by the Ministry of Land and Environment (MTA).
As part of this strategy, Mozambique LNG is implementing an action plan to ensure no net loss of biodiversity and a net gain for critical habitats.
Main actions undertaken:
- Ongoing assessment of ecosystems through onshore and offshore ecological surveys.
- Protection and restoration of sensitive habitats, with specific measures for local flora and fauna.
- Rigorous ecological monitoring to adapt and optimize conservation actions according to results.
Mozambique LNG is also supported by an environmental management plan covering various aspects, including :
- Emissions and waste management
- Water and air quality
- Preventive and compensatory measures to minimize its ecological footprint
Mozambique LNG’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESHIA) has been validated by the Ministry for the Coordination of Environmental Affairs (MICOA) and is complemented by several additional assessments.
“GreenFakes” is a series of investigations conducted by Mediapart, published in partnership with Mongabay and Africa Uncensored. They are based on internal documents from Biotope, leading French ecological auditing firm, obtained by Climate Whistleblowers, an organization specializing in the protection of climate and environmental whistleblowers.
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