A Paris court on Tuesday rejected NGO demands to suspend a controversial oil pipeline and drilling megaproject being carried out by TotalEnergies in Uganda and Tanzania. The associations reproached the company for its “disregard” for human rights and the environment.
The Reasons for the Tribunal’s Dismissal
According to the court, the associations failed to follow the procedural steps by presenting at the hearing claims and grievances that were “substantially different” from those they had outlined to TotalEnergies in a formal notice issued in 2019. Juliette Renaud, an association leader contacted by AFP, reacted that this position of the court was unfounded; according to her, it was only for the associations concerned to “specify and consolidate their argument with more than 200 documents in support”. Despite this failure, they can still appeal to the relevant judicial bodies or consult directly with the affected communities.
Implications of the Controversial Project
At the center of this dispute are the Tilenga drilling project in Uganda (one third of which is located in the Murchison Falls Natural Park); and the EACOP project, which consists of a 1,500 km heated pipeline through Tanzania and some protected areas. The arguments put forward by the protesters are that TotalEnergies would not respect its duty of care imposed since 2017 by a French law aimed in particular at guaranteeing the consideration of human rights, health and safety of the people concerned as well as the effective protection of the environment.
This judgment will serve as an example for many similar court cases involving a large multinational group.
