UK drops funding for massacre-linked gas project

LONDON — The U.K. has pulled out of funding a major gas project in Mozambique, the government confirmed Monday.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle has overturned plans to provide more than $1 billion in support for the liquefied natural gas project, which is run by French energy giant TotalEnergies. 

In March 2021, a Mozambican ISIS group attacked the town of Palma, adjacent to the gas plant, where thousands of project workers were based, killing 1,354 people and abducting another 209. A total of 330 people were beheaded.

Among the dead were 55 workers on Total’s project, according to a house-to-house survey carried out by POLITICO.

A Mozambican military unit operating out of the gatehouse of the site massacred at least 97 civilians in summer 2021, POLITICO reported last year.

British financial backing, in the form of taxpayer loans and guarantees for U.K. exporters and banks supporting the project, had been on hold after TotalEnergies invoked force majeure — a contract clause that allows firms to suspend obligations in the event of a disaster — after the security situation deteriorated in the region.

Referring to the massacre of civilians, the French energy giant has previously said it has “no knowledge of the alleged events … and has never received any information indicating that such events took place.”

Kyle confirmed today in a written statement that “after a detailed review, the U.K. government has decided to end UKEF’s participation in the project,” referencing the U.K.’s official export credit agency. 

He added: “My officials have evaluated the risks around the project, and it is the view of His Majesty’s government that these risks have increased since 2020. This view is based on a comprehensive assessment of the project and the interests of U.K. taxpayers, which are best served by ending our participation in the project at this time.”

UKEF will reimburse the premium rate already paid to the project. Kyle insisted the government is “committed to our national partnership with Mozambique.”

The decision to finance the development was first made by Boris Johnson’s Conservative administration in 2020, but the decision has since been mired in controversy. 

Kyle argued that financing the project would no longer “advance the interest of our country.”

Climate campaigners Friends of the Earth praised the government’s decision, pointing to estimates that gas from the field could generate around 4.5 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions over its lifetime — more than the combined annual emissions of all 27 EU countries.  

 “This Mozambique gas project is a huge carbon timebomb, linked to serious human rights abuses. It should never have been given UK taxpayer-funded support in the first place,” Asad Rehman, chief executive of Friends of the Earth, said. “We now urge other countries to follow suit and end their backing for this destructive project.”

POLITICO has approached TotalEnergies for comment.