Despite mounting security and human rights risks and unresolved community grievances, major oil and gas companies are rushing ahead with multibillion-dollar gas projects in Mozambique. Civil society organisations urgently warn financial institutions against supporting these projects given the high human rights, climate and environmental risks associated with them.

This week, ENI announced the Final Investment Decision for its Coral North FLNG project, officially launching the development. TotalEnergies and the Mozambican government confirmed plans to imminently restart the Mozambique LNG project, while ExxonMobil signalled progress on Rovuma LNG.

These moves come at a time when Cabo Delgado remains plagued by instability. Insurgent activity has escalated since July 2025, with frequent attacks on travellers, attacks on villages near Palma Town, and two attacks last month on the key port town of Mocímboa da Praia. TotalEnergies’ “fortress strategy” and the new security arrangements around the Afungi gas complex prioritise protection of the gas projects, completely isolating the operations and concentrating troops within the site, while leaving nearby communities vulnerable to attacks.

Resettlement grievances remain unresolved, while communities are limited in their ability to conduct their normal subsistence activities like fishing. Serious concerns remain about the socio-economic risks and erosion of Mozambique’s sovereignty tied to these projects.

Analysts have warned that restarting the TotalEnergies Mozambique LNG project could fuel recruitment into the insurgency, and that the exclusive security zone now being created could further alienate local people.

This is a project that has cost Mozambique and its people, and promises worse.

Anabela Lemos, Justiça Ambiental!: “Lifting the force majeure without resolving the outstanding social and human rights concerns shows a lack of responsibility and care for the people directly affected and will only make it more difficult to find meaningful long term solutions. These projects must be stopped, the land and sea must be returned to the local communities, and the gas companies must be held accountable for the damages already caused.”

Antoine Bouhey, Reclaim Finance, says: “Moving ahead with this project depends on the approval of more than 30 financial institutions, including Crédit Agricole, Société Générale and Standard Chartered. Given the lack of progress on the call for an international independent investigation on the alleged massacre of 2021, financiers of the project should not be writing a blank check for such a hazardous venture.”

Sonja Meister, urgewald, says: “German companies and banks are complicit in TotalEnergies’ reckless push to rapidly restart this disastrous project. Siemens Energy may soon deliver gas turbines and other equipment that will fire up production, while Deutsche Bank has already helped TotalEnergies raise new funds that could bankroll Mozambique LNG. It is outrageous that Siemens Energy and Deutsche Bank are backing this project despite serious human rights abuses and ongoing investigations.”

Lorette Philippot, Friends of the Earth France, says: “Total's aggressive strategy to restart Mozambique LNG at any cost not only fails to provide a solution, but threatens to cause further human and environmental disasters. For years, communities have been paying with their lives for the stranglehold in which the French oil giant has left them, caught between public security forces and insurgent groups. Total refuses to listen, but human rights must come before profits. The public and private banks that decided to place their trust in Total in 2020 cannot turn a blind eye to its repeated failures anymore. They must refuse to be complicit, or they too will have to face the consequences.”

Diogo Silva, BankTrack, says: “TotalEnergies is again moving forward with yet another destructive project, maximizing their already massive profits at the cost of the lives of many. Now is the time for commercial banks’ to walk their own talk about protecting climate, human rights and nature. We urge Standard Chartered, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale, Mizuho, MUFG, SMBC, Standard Bank and all commercial banks involved to withdraw their support for this project; and civil society in the UK, France, Japan and South Africa to pressure these banks to do the only reasonable and possible right thing: pull out of Mozambique LNG.”