{"id":45571,"date":"2023-02-28T20:45:02","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T20:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/french-court-dismisses-case-against-eacop"},"modified":"2023-02-28T21:05:31","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T21:05:31","slug":"french-court-dismisses-case-against-eacop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/french-court-dismisses-case-against-eacop","title":{"rendered":"French court dismisses case against EACOP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>A French court on Tuesday dismissed a landmark case against TotalEnergies for a massive oil project in Uganda and Tanzania after several NGOs filed a suit to suspend the controversial project.<\/p>\n

It was the first case of its kind in France, and activists had hoped it would set a legal precedent to halt projects deemed harmful to the environment and human rights.<\/p>\n

Six NGOs that filed the suit argued the development of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) failed to adhere to a “duty of vigilance”, a 2017 law that compels companies to avoid grave harm to human rights, health, safety and the environment.<\/p>\n

The court on Tuesday ruled the case was “inadmissible”, saying the plaintiffs did not correctly follow court procedures against the French energy giant.<\/p>\n

It said the plaintiffs submitted accounts to the court in December that were “substantially different” from those that were presented to TotalEnergies in a formal notice in 2019 when the case was initiated.<\/p>\n

The suit was brought by two French and four Ugandan NGOs, which accused TotalEnergies of taking land from more than 100,000 people without adequate compensation.<\/p>\n

They also said the company drilled wells in the biodiversity-rich Murchison Falls National Park on the shores of Lake Albert.<\/p>\n

Friends of the Earth and Survival, the two French NGOs, and the Ugandan groups denied having substantially modified their submissions to the court.<\/p>\n

They “only clarified them and consolidated their arguments with more than 200 documents of supporting evidence”, said Juliette Renaud, a campaigner with Friends of the Earth.<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs, which can appeal the decision, said they would speak to “the affected communities” about next steps, Renaud added.<\/p>\n

Economic boon <\/b><\/p>\n

The $10 billion oilfields and pipeline project has been hailed as an economic boon for Uganda and Tanzania, where many live in poverty, while being strongly opposed by environmentalists.<\/p>\n

The project is being jointly developed by TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), along with the state-owned Uganda National Oil Company.<\/p>\n

The 1,443-kilometre (900-mile) pipeline will transport crude from vast oilfields being developed in Lake Albert in northwestern Uganda to a Tanzanian port on the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n

Lake Albert, a natural border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, lies atop an estimated 6.5 billion barrels of crude, of which about 1.4 billion barrels are currently considered recoverable.<\/p>\n

Tanzanian Energy Minister January Makamba this month rejected the environmental and rights concerns as “propaganda”, saying the country complied with environmental, safety and human rights standards.<\/p>\n

Tuesday’s ruling in France is the first instance of the “duty of vigilance” being tested in a courtroom.<\/p>\n

Several legal proceedings for failure to comply with the “duty of vigilance” are underway against other French companies, including Casino, Suez, Yves Rocher and BNP Paribas.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. A French court on Tuesday dismissed a landmark case against TotalEnergies for a massive oil project in Uganda and Tanzania after several NGOs filed a suit to suspend the controversial project. It was the first case of its kind in France, and activists had hoped it would set a legal precedent to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":45570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-45571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nFrench court dismisses case against EACOP - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A French court on Tuesday dismissed a landmark case against TotalEnergies for a massive oil project in Uganda and Tanzan ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/french-court-dismisses-case-against-eacop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"French court dismisses case against EACOP\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A French court on Tuesday dismissed a landmark case against TotalEnergies for a massive oil project in Uganda and Tanzan ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/french-court-dismisses-case-against-eacop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-28T20:45:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-28T21:05:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1677604509.92.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/french-court-dismisses-case-against-eacop#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/french-court-dismisses-case-against-eacop\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"French court dismisses case against EACOP\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-28T20:45:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-28T21:05:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/french-court-dismisses-case-against-eacop\"},\"wordCount\":470,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/french-court-dismisses-case-against-eacop#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1677604509.92.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/french-court-dismisses-case-against-eacop#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/french-court-dismisses-case-against-eacop\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/french-court-dismisses-case-against-eacop\",\"name\":\"French court dismisses case against EACOP - 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