Washington, July 15, 2025 — Friends of the Earth U.S. and Justiça Ambiental/Friends of the Earth Mozambique, with representation from EarthRights International, filed a lawsuit last night challenging the U.S. Export-Import Bank’s unlawful approval of nearly $5 billion in financing for the Mozambique LNG project. The Project has displaced thousands of local people, been the site of alleged human rights violations, surrounded by a violent conflict, and will cause significant environmental destruction. Yet, as alleged in the lawsuit, EXIM rushed through approval without conducting required environmental reviews, economic assessment, or allowing the required input by the public and Congress. EXIM failed to follow its own Charter and federal law, setting a dangerous precedent for future decisions.
In February 2025, President Trump illegally filled EXIM’s Board of Directors without the Senate’s consent. Just weeks later, in March 2025, EXIM’s improperly constituted “acting” board of directors announced final approval of the massive loan. It did so despite the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis and despite the fact that the project operator, French oil giant, TotalEnergies, declared force majeure more than four years ago, halting operations. Total has been unable to resume operations since. EXIM’s Board charged ahead with subsidizing the project, without considering the conflict and the harms the project will inflict on the environment and local communities, and despite multiple nations’ open investigations into allegations of serious human rights violations at the project site.
A spokesperson for JA! said: “To continue financing gas projects in Cabo Delgado would be a betrayal of Mozambique and humanity. It would show disrespect for justice that is due to people who have endured human rights violations. It would ignore the voices of the families who are bearing the heaviest burdens – who have lost their land, access to the sea, and their livelihoods. It would show a lack of commitment to national laws, international standards, and any efforts to deal with the climate crisis. LNG in Mozambique would benefit only the fossil fuel corporations and a small political elite.”
“There are legal procedures and processes in place to ensure the U.S. Export-Import Bank does not waste taxpayer dollars on risky projects plagued by violent insurgencies,” said Kate DeAngelis, Economic Policy Deputy Director for Friends of the Earth US. “Yet EXIM – like the rest of the Trump Administration – believes that it can operate outside the law. We will not stand by while the Trump Administration cuts health care and disaster aid so that it can give handouts to fossil fuel companies.”
“EXIM’s Board’s illegal decision to subsidize this project, without even considering the risks to local people, let alone the serious allegations that project security committed a massacre at the project site, is beyond reckless. EXIM needs to do its job and actually consider the harms this project will inflict on local people,” said Richard Herz of EarthRights International. Today’s lawsuit aims to hold EXIM accountable for violating federal law in quietly forcing through final approval that failed to comply with the procedural requirements mandated by Congress and for approving financing that violates the substantive limits Congress placed on EXIM. If successful, the lawsuit would vacate EXIM’s unlawful approval, prevent funds from being disbursed, and force EXIM to comply with its obligations prior to reaching a decision on the pending loan.
Friends of the Earth US and Justiça Ambiental/Friends of the Earth Mozambique filed the lawsuit against EXIM in federal district court for the District of Columbia. They are being represented in this matter by the nonprofit organization EarthRights International.
Media contact: Kate DeAngelis, kdeangelis@foe.org
