Washington, DC – Last week, French energy major Total confirmed one of its employees working on the liquefied natural gas development in northern Mozambique tested positive for COVID-19.  Despite the risks to local communities and workers, Total will not be shutting down operations, and it is “not downsizing” due to COVID-19.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM) is a key financier of the Mozambique LNG project where the Total employee was working. In September 2019, EXIM approved $5 billion for Mozambique LNG – the largest transaction in its history.

In response to the potential health crisis in northern Mozambique, Friends of the Earth U.S.’s senior international policy analyst Kate DeAngelis issued the following statement:

“If work on the LNG export and related facilities is allowed to continue, COVID-19 will spread rapidly among the workers as they often live and work in close quarters. In addition, it will spread more rapidly to local communities, putting both the workers and broader areas at risk. 

“As such a key financier of the project, EXIM can and should use its leverage to demand that work immediately stops until the coronavirus pandemic is under control and the health and safety of workers and local communities can be guaranteed. 

“If someone has already tested positive at the Mozambique LNG project, then the virus is already circulating. The only way to halt the rapid spread of the disease is for all work on the gas in northern Mozambique to stop now.”