UK Export Finance, the state-owned export credit agency, is facing a review of its decision to back Total’s US$20bn liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province. It follows a barrage of criticism directed towards the agency by UK MPs and activists for its continued support of overseas fossil fuel deals.
Friends of the Earth, an NGO, has been given the go-ahead for a judicial review that will examine the judgment taken by UKEF to provide around US$1bn of taxpayer money to help finance the plant.
The NGO says that the defendants failed to consider essential issues or carry out the necessary analysis to properly determine if supporting the project aligned with the UK’s and Mozambique’s obligations under the Paris Agreement – the global deal to keep greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
A full hearing is expected to take place later this year, according to Friends of the Earth.
