UKEF set to back Total’s $20 billion Mozambique LNG project

(Reuters, Johannesburg/London, 26 June 2020) Britain’s export credit agency UK Export Finance (UKEF) is set to back around $800 million of a $20 billion (£16 billion) liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique led by French energy major Total. Campaigners say such projects lock in harmful emissions for the foreseeable future and hurt often impoverished local communities, especially in countries with a history of corruption, like Mozambique. They say they are out of step with commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement, signed by almost 200 countries. “By backing this massive fossil fuel project, the UK would undermine their credibility as they prepare to host the UN climate negotiations next year,” said Alex Doukas of Oil Change International.