Confidential documents reveal that the project, led by oil company TotalEnergies, to explore for natural gas in the Rovuma basin, in Cabo Delgado province, will have harmful impacts on the environment and biodiversity.

The Mozambique LNG project is valued at 20 billion US dollars. Despite the prospect of economic development for the country, the project is an atomic bomb for the environment. This has led 126 NGOs to ask the banks to stop financing the project. To date, the project has not received a Final Investment Decision. It is largely suspended due to the security situation in the province.

During the exploration and consumption phase of the project's offshore gas, 4.4 billion tons of CO₂ will be emitted, "more than the annual emissions of the European Union".

The documents obtained by the NGO Climate Whistleblowers, whose data was released by Midiapart in the investigative series "GreenFakes" point out that the environment and wildlife, at sea and on land, will be harmed by the project.

TotalEnergies has promised to respect the PS6 standard, developed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a subsidiary of the World Bank, when it acquires the project from the American company Anadarko in 2019.

The oil company says it follows the rules in the biodiversity action plan drawn up by Anadarko. TotalEnergies keeps the plan under wraps. But the publication to which we have had access states that the French multinational has not respected the IFC standard since then.

The IFC PS6 standard stipulates that the project must not cause any net loss biodiversity, and even a net gain to critical habitats which are home to endangered species.

Anadarko's document, now in the possession of TotalEnergies, points out, firstly, that due to the lack of available data on fauna and flora "in this isolated region of Mozambique"Additional studies are needed to "quantify and manage the impacts of the project". But TotalEnergies "doesn't know" if it is in compliance with the project, due to the lack of measuring instruments.

The document also highlights that the Afungi peninsula, an area of 3,500 hectares granted to TotalEnergies, is home to a high diversity of species, with more than 150 species that only exist in the region, ten of which are in danger of extinction.

Animal species are also vulnerable to disappearance, including the Madagascan heron and the African wild dog.