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The US, UK, Japan, Netherlands, Italy, Vietnam and South Africa are investing public money in a $14.9bn loan to a gas project in Mozambique. The US has invested the most at $5bn, followed by Japan at $3bn. 19 commercial lenders and the African Development Bank have also funded the $20bn initiative. These loans have been given to the gas project in spite of evidence showing it will be disastrous for the climate and threaten security and human rights.
The French oil giant Total, which has a 26.5% stake in the project, hailed it as a 'significant achievement'. However, this is not supported by evidence. The gas initiative will escalate climate change, which is already damaging the African continent beyond repair. Gas extraction is a large contributor to this and, unless action is taken to prevent it, by 2040 the sector will be extracting 47% more gas than what can be burned within a 2C warming limit. The project would also generate a high-carbon dependency in Mozambique. This means that the country's economy will be dependant on developing its gas sector to support low- and middle-income families for decades. The Director of Power Shift Africa, Mohamed Adow, responded to this by saying: 'if Total truly cared about Africa [...], they would be helping us to develop clean, renewable power, not more dirty energy'. Other critics have described the project as a way for international forces to fulfil their own interests at the expense of Mozambique's environmental health and social prosperity.
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