A French court will rule on Uganda’s TotalEnergies case – #French #court #rule #Ugandas #TotalEnergies #case
PARIS, Feb 27 (Reuters) – On Tuesday France A court could order oil major TotalEnergies ( TTEF.PA ) to halt development of an East African pipeline in a landmark case based on legislation that makes major companies liable for environmental and environmental risks. human rights.
Paris Civil Court “Friends of the Earth” France and TotalEnergies of five other French and Ugandan activist groups enough compensation without an apple 10It will decide the lawsuit of more than 0,000 people accusing them of expropriating their land and drilling in a natural park with endangered species.
TotalEnergies claimed that its vigilance, compensation and resettlement plans are fair and legal and France the court has no jurisdiction to supervise the overseas activities of its subsidiary TotalEnergies EP Uganda.
3.5 in Uganda and Tanzania, where TotalEnergies has a 62% stake billion At risk are the US dollar East African Crude Pipeline and the Tilenga oil project, which is intended to deliver crude through the company’s 1,443-kilometer (897-mile) pipeline.
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Tuesday’s ruling will be the first in a case using a 2017 French law that requires large companies to identify risks to people and the environment in their global operations and supply chains and detail strategies to prevent them.
The non-governmental organizations behind the suit want TotalEnergies’ East African projects to be halted immediately until financial compensation is paid to those they say have been harmed by the plans.
Campaigners also want the company to rewrite its so-called vigilance plan to take into account the specific environmental risks to water, endangered species and climate associated with its operations in Uganda and Tanzania.
In a statement to Reuters on Monday, TotalEnergies said the vigilance plan was being effectively implemented at the projects being inspected.
He said, “Indeed NGOidentifies the risks identified by… including risks to human rights and local communities, access to land, the right to health and an adequate standard of living, as well as security risks to people and the environment. “
This work is expected to have wider consequences.
Nuclear giant EDF ( EDF.PA ), water supplier Suez, bank BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) and villageOther French multinationals, including food firm Danone ( DANO.PA ), have been sued under a 2017 “vigilance debt” law.
These cases are pollution of plastics, in France and based on claims as diverse as working conditions abroad, loans to companies that contribute to deforestation, and land conflicts with local populations in the construction of new projects.
Carroll Muffett, head of the Center for International Environmental Law in Washington, said, “What we’re actually seeing is something completely new court is the emergence of the field,” he said.
“What closes these cases is that a number of statutory duties come into play … because the world of potential plaintiffs who have been harmed by corporate conduct continues to expand,” he said.
Reporting by America Hernandez Editing by Silvia Aloisi and Aurora Ellis
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-02-28 00:10:07
Source – reuters
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