French court rejects lawsuit brought against TotalEnergies on Uganda pipeline project

A French court ruled on Tuesday, 28 February 2023, that a lawsuit against oil major TotalEnergies over its controversial oil projects in Uganda and Tanzania was inadmissible.

File photo: The logo of French oil and gas company TotalEnergies is seen on an oil tank at TotalEnergies fuel depot in Mardyck near Dunkirk, France, 16 January 2023. Reuters/Benoit Tessier

The case had been brought by six French and Ugandan activist groups which accuse the French company of not doing all it could to protect people and the environment in the two projects, the Tilenga oil development and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.

TotalEnergies and the plaintiff organisations had no immediate comment.

French court to rule on landmark TotalEnergies Uganda case

America Hernandez 28 Feb 2023

The campaigners had asked the court to order TotalEnergies to halt the east African projects in a landmark case based on a 2017 French law that makes big companies liable for risks to the environment and human rights.

But the court dismissed the request, saying that only a judge examining the case more in depth could assess whether the accusations against TotalEnergies were founded and to then proceed to an audit of operations on the ground.