By Sylvie Corbet, PARIS France
A French court on Tuesday dismissed a case brought against TotalEnergies by activists contending that the energy company’s major oil projects in east Africa violated the human rights of the region’s inhabitants and posed environmental risks.
The court said the groups
deviated from proceedings by presenting claims during a December court hearing
that were “substantially different” those made in 2019 when they initially
filed their lawsuit.
The six Ugandan and French
groups said the company’s oil extraction and pipeline projects completely or
partially adversely impacted the lands of approximately 118,000 people in
Uganda and Tanzania and that tens of thousands are still awaiting compensation.
TotalEnergies has argued that its planning “has been implemented effectively” and that its Ugandan and Tanzanian affiliates “have applied the appropriate action plans to respect the rights of local communities and ensure respect for biodiversity.”
The company said about 8,500 households are affected in Uganda, most of which have received compensation. It added that most of about 9,500 households have signed a compensation deal in Tanzania, where the project is less advanced.
In a joint statement, the
activist groups said they “strongly deplored” the ruling.
“It’s a very unfortunate
decision,” Dickens Kamugisha, head of one of the groups, the Uganda-based
African Institute for Energy Governance, told the Associated Press. He
regretted the court’s ruling was based on procedural grounds and not on the merits
of the case.
Juliette Renaud, from the
Friends of the Earth France association, said the ruling is yet another
opportunity missed by French justice “to put and end to multiple ongoing
violations in Uganda and Tanzania.”
Pauline TĂ©tillon, co-president
of the French-based Survie group, said the ruling sidesteps the substance of
the case which is the projects’ consequences on people, the environment and the
climate.
Tuesday’s ruling was the first
based on 2017 “duty of vigilance” legislation that makes big companies liable
for risks to human rights and the environment — even if any infractions are
committed by foreign affiliates and subcontractors.
Oil
drilling has recently begun in Uganda in a field operated by China
National Offshore Oil Corporation, CNOOC, as part of the joint deal with
TotalEnergies. Production is expected to start by 2025. Both groups said last
year that the total investment would be more than $10 billion.
Construction is to start this
year on the 897-mile (1,443-kilometer) East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline, planned
by TotalEnergies and CNOOC, between Uganda and the Indian Ocean port of Tanga
in Tanzania. Authorities have described it as the world’s longest heated oil
pipeline.
Uganda is estimated to have
recoverable oil reserves of at least 1.4 billion barrels.
Some oil wells are to be
drilled within western Uganda’s Murchison Falls National Park, where the Nile
plummets 130 feet (40 meters) through a gap just 20 feet (6 meters) wide and
the surrounding wilderness is home to hippos, egrets, giraffes and antelopes.
The pipeline would then pass through seven forest reserves and two game parks,
running alongside Lake Victoria, a source of fresh water for 40 million people.
That ecological fragility is
one reason why some activists oppose the project despite assurances from
TotalEnergies that the pipeline’s state-of-the-art-design will ensure safety
for decades.
Ugandan authorities see the
oil drilling project and the pipeline as key to economic development, saying
oil wealth could help lift millions out of poverty. Some see condemnation of
the pipeline as an assault on the country’s sovereignty.
President Yoweri Museveni
vowed in September that the project would proceed, with or without
TotalEnergies. Uganda would “find someone else to work with” if necessary, he
said.
At the time, European Union
lawmakers had passed a non-binding resolution urging the international
community “to exert maximum pressure on Ugandan and Tanzanian authorities, as
well as the project promoters and stakeholders” to stop oil activities in the
region.
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