Duty of Vigilance: TotalEnergies Regrets NGOs' Refusal of the Mediation Process Proposed by the Paris Civil Court
13 Outubro 2022 - 6:44AM
Business Wire
Regulatory News:
In connection with the hearings scheduled before the Paris Civil
court today, TotalEnergies (Paris:TTE) (LSE:TTE) (NYSE:TTE) regrets
that the NGOs involved in the proceedings have refused to
participate in the mediation process proposed by the court and
accepted by TotalEnergies.
Following this refusal, the court decided that the pleadings
would take place on December, 7, 2022.
In October 2019, some NGOs brought proceedings against
TotalEnergies SE in the Nanterre Civil court based on France's
"duty of vigilance" law, claiming that the Company had
insufficiently identified and managed the social and environmental
impacts of the Tilenga and EACOP projects in Uganda and
Tanzania.
France's "duty of vigilance" law, which came into effect in
2017, requires companies of a certain size to publish in their
management report a vigilance plan on the reasonable measures taken
to identify risks and prevent potential serious violations of human
rights and fundamental freedoms, human and environmental health and
safety, not only in relation to the company's own activities but
also those of its subcontractors and suppliers with whom it has an
established commercial relationship.
The mediation process proposed by the court and accepted by
TotalEnergies could have provided an opportunity to initiate a
constructive dialogue with the NGOs that brought the proceedings,
similar to the dialogue that the Company's affiliates in Uganda and
Tanzania have maintained with the majority of local associations
since the projects began.
TotalEnergies regrets this refusal by the NGOs party to the
proceedings and now intends to argue before the court that its
vigilance plan has been implemented effectively and that it has
properly checked that its Ugandan and Tanzanian affiliates have
applied the appropriate action plans to respect the rights of local
communities and ensure respect for biodiversity, within the
framework of National Interest Projects decided by the governments
of Uganda and Tanzania.
In this respect, the TotalEnergies affiliates involved in the
projects commissioned third-party experts to monitor the situations
of the people affected by the project. Their feedback is the
following:
Payment of compensation:
- The Tilenga project in Uganda concerns 4,929 households:
- 92% of compensation agreements have been signed,
- 88% of compensation has been paid.
- The EACOP project in Uganda concerns 3,648 households:
- 74% of compensation agreements have been signed.
- Almost 60% of people have received their compensation.
- The EACOP project in Tanzania, where the process began later,
concerns 9,510 households:
- 67% have signed the compensation agreement,
- 15% have received their compensation to date.
In cases where payment has not been received, the members of the
households concerned naturally continue to access and enjoy full
disposal of their homes and the land, which belongs to them or
which they farm.
Households whose main residence is affected:
- For the two projects, 723 households, numbering some 5,000
people, will be relocated.
- All the households concerned continue to live on their land and
to farm it until they have received the full amount of their
compensation, at which time they will be relocated.
Societal measures implemented:
- In addition to the compensation agreed, additional measures
will be implemented to promote employment, education and women’s
rights.
- Along with the other aspects of the project, TotalEnergies
adheres strictly to local regulations and international standards
(IFC).
Households in the field:
- The people concerned by the projects will be monitored for at
least three years. An annual survey of the people concerned by
Tilenga project who have received cash compensation, carried out by
a third party, showed that:
- 70% of respondents said that their life had improved since
receiving their compensation,
- and 28% said that their life was unchanged.
The preservation of biodiversity:
- Within the framework of these two projects, and in line with
its biodiversity commitments, TotalEnergies SE has undertaken to
implement action plans designed to achieve a net positive impact on
biodiversity.
- For the Tilenga project, for example:
- The footprint of the facilities in the Murchison Falls National
Park has been minimized to less than 0,03% of its surface.
- 1,000 hectares of forest will be restored to allow chimpanzees
to move freely,
- 10,000 hectares of forest will be preserved,
- a program is being designed that will increase the population
of lions and elephants in Murchison Falls National Park by
25%,
- a project is being designed to reintroduce iconic species such
as the black rhinoceros.
For more information about the EACOP and Tilenga projects and
their implementation in compliance with the rights of local people
and respect for biodiversity challenges, all third-party reports
and assessments have been posted online by our affiliates for
public consultation, in full transparency:
https://totalenergies.com/projects/liquids-low-carbon-fuels/tilenga-and-eacop-acting-transparently
https://totalenergies.com/info/tilenga-eacop-two-projects-rigorously-researched-and-assessed
***
About TotalEnergies
TotalEnergies is a global multi-energy company that produces and
markets energies: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases,
renewables and electricity. Our more than 100,000 employees are
committed to energy that is ever more affordable, cleaner, more
reliable and accessible to as many people as possible. Active in
more than 130 countries, TotalEnergies puts sustainable development
in all its dimensions at the heart of its projects and operations
to contribute to the well-being of people.
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subject to a number of risk factors. Neither TotalEnergies SE nor
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