Oil company Total faces historic legal action in France for human rights and environmental violations in Uganda
Total is the main operator of a mega oil project in Lake Albert and Murchison Falls, a protected natural park in Uganda. Total plans to drill over 400 wells, extracting around 200,000 barrels of oil per day. A 1,445km long giant pipeline will be built to transport the oil, impacting communities and nature in Tanzania as well as Uganda.
France's new Duty of Vigilance law compels Total to meet its human rights obligations concerning this project. The judge will decide if the corporation should be forced, with potential financial penalties, to review its vigilance plan, acknowledging the true impact of its oil activities on local communities and the environment.
In June 2019 the six NGOs presented the French fossil fuel giant with a formal demand to revise its vigilance plan and the implementation of that plan for the oil project in Uganda. Total rejected the charges after a three month legal deadline, allowing the complainants to take Total to court...
Juliette Renaud, corporate accountability senior campaigner for Friends of the Earth France said, “In addition to the urgent need to put an end to this scandalous project, this unprecedented legal case is also a legitimate sign of recognition that transnational corporations have new and very concrete legal obligations under this law"...