Taking on Mozambique's Mega Fossil Projects and False Climate Solutions

Starting in the early 2000s, the Mozambique government granted licenses to several multinational corporations to operate a series of mega projects covering fossil fuel, deforestation, and hydropower operations.

The projects included Africa's largest natural gas deposits off the remote northern coastline of Mozambique, a license for a 25-year estimated reserve of 1.2 billion tonnes of coal, and a five-billion dollar 1,500 megawatts hydropower dam.

Liquified Natural Gas (LNG)

The Cabo Delgado Gas Operation led to a wave of investment in the region through a consortium of investors, including U.S.-based Anadarko, Italy's ENI, and France's Total Energies, among others. The fields are estimated to contain as much as 125 trillion cubic feet of gas, potentially placing the country in the top tier of global LNG producers. 

The government of Mozambique evicted around 500 families to be resettled to make way for an onshore gas storage facility. This project has led to terrible changes in Cabo Delgado province, displacing farming and fishing communities who lose their livelihoods, and giving incentives to youth to join Islamist rebel groups. Community leaders who opposed the resettlement were marginalized by the government and intimidated and pressured to stay silent.

Coal Mining

The 25-year estimated reserve of 1.2 billion tonnes of coal in the Chirodzi Coal Licenses would yield 10 million tonnes per annum producing semi-hard grade coking coal for both a steel and thermal plant in the Tete Province of Mozambique. There has been massive resistance to the coal mining operations. In 2012, more than 500 protestors blocked a coal train line in the Tete province, and an estimated 980 families have since been evicted. As late as 2015, there were also work stoppages by employees and the surrounding communities in opposition to false promises, resettlement issues, and poor living conditions.

Hydropower

The Mphanda Nkuwa Dam is a 5-billion-dollar, 1,500-megawatt hydropower dam, 103 meters 97 square kilometers along the Zambezi River. It has been described by Mozambique's climate activists as a false climate solution and by the United Nations as the "least environmentally acceptable major dam project in Africa." The project has displaced 1,400 families and affected the livelihoods of a large number of people.. 

Our Work

CLiDef is taking action to address the threats faced by climate activists who are working on large-scale fossil fuel, deforestation, and false climate solutions projects in Mozambique. To support climate activists and local communities in Mozambique, CLiDef is collaborating with its local partner, JA, to recruit, train, and hire a team of specialized criminal defense lawyers and jurists. This team will provide sustained support to the activists and affected communities in specific project areas, as well as across the country.

The lawyers will receive training and mentorship from CLiDef lawyers and legal experts from other countries. They will be empowered with resources and funding to challenge any writs, including criminal and civil charges, and seek accountability for those who have disappeared mysteriously. The team plans to file petitions for Habeas Corpus to compel the government and security forces to produce missing individuals, either living or deceased, in court.