People Power in action: Uniting against oil exploration in Togo

This case study by Friends of the Earth International describes the efforts of the Doevi Kope community and Les Amis de la Terre Togo to resist oil exploration in Togo. It details how local communities, after being uninformed by their government, campaigned to cancel an exploration contract with the Italian company ENI and sought evidence of the negative impacts of oil extraction in neighboring countries.

• The Togo government signed an oil exploration and production contract with the Italian energy company ENI in 2010 without informing the Doevi Kope community. This discovery was later certified by an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in 2012. The contract was eventually cancelled following a campaign involving journalists, local communities, and organizations such as Les Amis de la Terre Togo.
• To understand the risks of oil extraction, the Doevi Kope community studied impacts in Nigeria and Chad and traveled to Ghana in 2014. They reported witnessing devastating effects including oil pollution that killed fish, poisoned animals and farmland, and destroyed livelihoods. In Ghana, they found that promised relocation and employment opportunities were not fulfilled, leading to hunger and a lack of school attendance for children.
• The Doevi Kope community has previously suffered from government-led megaprojects, specifically a harbor built in the 1960s. This project altered tidal patterns and caused coastal erosion that destroyed houses and forced fishermen to travel further out to sea, increasing their risk. The government is currently building a new harbor, which the community believes will intensify this erosion.
• Despite the cancellation of the ENI contract, the Togo government is reportedly seeking a new company to extract oil, although no official information has been released since the exploration phase. Friends of the Earth Togo and local communities continue to mobilize against these efforts.

APA

admin (2017). People Power in action: Uniting against oil exploration in Togo. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/people-power-in-action-uniting-against-oil-exploration-in-togo/

Chicago

admin. People Power in action: Uniting against oil exploration in Togo. Friends of the Earth International, 2017. https://www.foei.org/people-power-in-action-uniting-against-oil-exploration-in-togo/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=admin |title=People Power in action: Uniting against oil exploration in Togo |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=9 October 2017 |url=https://www.foei.org/people-power-in-action-uniting-against-oil-exploration-in-togo/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{admin2017people, author = {admin}, title = {{People Power in action: Uniting against oil exploration in Togo}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://www.foei.org/people-power-in-action-uniting-against-oil-exploration-in-togo/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }