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United Nations experts warned Thursday that the AfDB’s decision to finance the Coral North FLNG project could intensify existing human rights challenges, accelerate environmental degradation and divert vital public resources away from renewable energy development.
Experts say the project risks causing further damage to a region already facing instability. Cabo Delgado has experienced years of armed conflict, widespread displacement, and repeated climate-related shocks. In this fragile context, large-scale gas development has historically failed to adequately involve local communities in decision-making processes, undermining their participation and rights.
They noted that nascent liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in the region have led to loss of livelihoods, particularly for communities dependent on fishing, agriculture, and natural resources. Despite guaranteed job creation, structural barriers such as high illiteracy rates and limited access to education mean that local populations derive only minimal economic benefits from these developments.
Experts also highlighted important environmental issues. They warned that the Coral North project could significantly increase emissions of greenhouse gases, including methane, while increasing air pollution and causing widespread ecological damage. This comes at a time when Mozambique and the surrounding region are already facing severe climate impacts.
Experts expressed strong concerns and questioned the rationale behind funding new fossil fuel infrastructure, given the well-documented risks associated with such projects. The two leaders stressed that international financial institutions and private sector actors have an obligation to assess, prevent and address adverse human rights impacts associated with their activities, in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
It further argued that the AfDB’s decisions appear to be out of step with evolving international legal standards, including the Bank’s own Climate Change and Green Growth Strategy (2021-2030) and recent guidance from the International Court of Justice on climate change obligations. They underlined the growing global imperative to transition away from fossil fuels in this critical decade.
Experts have warned that continued investment in upstream fossil fuel projects risks locking countries into high-emissions pathways that are incompatible with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. They said such practices also undermine the fundamental human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The two leaders concluded by calling on the AfDB to reconsider its position and stop financing fossil fuel projects, stating that they are currently in discussions with both the bank and the Mozambique government on this issue.
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The United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts has expressed serious concerns over the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) approval of a US$150 million loan for the Coral North Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) project in northern Mozambique. The project, located off the coast of Cabo Delgado province, is part of a broader expansion of the country’s natural gas sector that has already attracted significant international investment, but has been controversial due to its social and environmental impacts.
