Court orders TotalEnergies to account for environmental impact of oil and gas products

A Paris court has ordered French oil giant TotalEnergies to report the environmental consequences of emissions from its oil and gas products and explain how it plans to address them. 

The ruling stems from a civil case brought by NGOs and French cities demanding that the company align its business with global warming targets under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Total is facing a number of other lawsuits. A new case involves claims from NGOs and Ugandan residents over land and rights violations related to a drilling project in Tilenga. 

Called a “carbon bomb” by critics, the project includes drilling more than 400 wells in Tilenga and around 30 in Kingfisher. 

It’s also linked to the colossal East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) to Tanzania’s port of Tanga, almost 1,500 kilometers away.

The Climate Accountability Institute says it will unleash 379 million tonnes of climate-heating pollution over its lifetime.

Due to start operating in 2027, it will be the world's longest heated oil pipeline. Uganda's oil is particularly viscous and must be kept at 50C to be transported through the pipeline, which will be able to transport up to 246,000 barrels per day, with a storage terminal and loading facility at Tanga.

Around 100 Tilenga wells are located in Uganda's largest and oldest national park, Murchison Falls, and there are fears of leaks from the pipeline that crosses fragile and highly biodiverse ecosystems and wildlife migration routes.

Earth Insight, an NGO, said it threatens freshwater systems, including 158 Ugandan wetlands, 11 rivers, 44 protected areas and seven key biodiversity areas.

Meanwhile, the Tanzanian storage and loading areas are located near marine protected areas.

TotalEnergies says "strict measures have been taken to avoid, mitigate and offset" the project's impact on local environments, with efforts to restore thousands of hectares of forest and wetlands and increase biodiversity in affected areas.

More than 100,000 people have reportedly been displaced, with NGOs claiming inadequate compensation and a lack of transparency. Total says most affected households have been compensated. It also claims to be bringing tens of thousands of jobs to the region. 

Opponents of the project say locals have frequently gone to court over "unjust compensation" and face intimidation and arrest by Ugandan and Tanzanian authorities, known for violent repression of dissent.

The case is scheduled to be heard next year.