NGOs Refuse Mediation with TotalEnergies Over Tilenga and EACOP Projects

Friday, October 14, 2022

A group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have refused to enter a mediation process offered by a Paris court in regard to TotalEnergies’ social and environmental stewardship on the Tilenga and EACOP Projects in Uganda and Tanzania.

The French company stands behind all the steps it has taken to develop the projects in a just and sustainable manner and is disappointed by the NGOs refusal to participate.

“In connection with the hearings scheduled before the Paris Civil court today, TotalEnergies regrets that the NGOs involved in the proceedings have refused to participate in the mediation process proposed by the court and accepted by TotalEnergies.”

The court subsequently decided that the pleadings would take place on December 7, 2022.

In October 2019, some NGOs brought proceedings against TotalEnergies based on France’s “duty of vigilance” law, claiming that the company had insufficiently identified and managed the social and environmental impacts of the Tilenga and EACOP projects in Uganda and Tanzania.

The mediation process proposed by the court and accepted by TotalEnergies could have provided an opportunity to initiate a constructive dialogue with the NGOs that brought the proceedings, similar to the dialogue that the company’s affiliates in Uganda and Tanzania have maintained with the majority of local associations since the projects began.

TotalEnergies regrets this refusal by the NGOs party to the proceedings and now intends to argue before the court that its vigilance plan has been implemented effectively and that it has properly checked that its Ugandan and Tanzanian affiliates have applied the appropriate action plans to respect the rights of local communities and ensure respect for biodiversity, within the framework of National Interest Projects decided by the governments of Uganda and Tanzania.

TotalEnergies and its affiliates involved in the projects have commissioned third-party experts to monitor the situations of the people affected by the project. The company has thoroughly outlined the steps it has taken as well as the compensation payments made to households effected by the project.

For more information about the EACOP and Tilenga projects and their implementation in compliance with the rights of local people and respect for biodiversity challenges, all third-party reports and assessments have been posted online by the company’s affiliates for public consultation, in full transparency:

Tilenga and EACOP: acting transparently

Tilenga & EACOP: two projects rigorously researched and assessed

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