Friends of the Earth et al. v. TotaL

This case study describes a legal challenge brought by NGOs against the company Total, alleging that the company's vigilance plan for the Tilenga oil project in Uganda and Tanzania violated France's 2017 Duty of Vigilance Law by failing to adequately assess human rights and environmental impacts.

• France's 2017 Duty of Vigilance Law mandates that companies create due diligence plans to identify and prevent environmental harm and human rights violations, extending these requirements to subcontractors and foreign subsidiaries.
• Plaintiffs allege that Total's Tilenga oil project, located on Lake Albert in western Uganda with a pipeline to Tanga, Tanzania, is expected to displace approximately 100,000 people and involve drilling 400 boreholes, with about one-third situated in Murchinson Falls National Park.
• The legal proceedings regarding Total's alleged failure to comply with due diligence obligations saw the Nanterre Judicial Court rule in January 2020 that it lacked competence to hear the case, a decision affirmed by the Court of Appeal of Versailles in December 2020, leading to an appeal to the Court of Cassation.

APA

Natural Justice (2022). Friends of the Earth et al. v. TotaL. https://naturaljustice.org/publication/environmental-court-cases-friends-of-the-earth-v-total/

Chicago

Natural Justice. Friends of the Earth et al. v. TotaL. 2022. https://naturaljustice.org/publication/environmental-court-cases-friends-of-the-earth-v-total/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=Friends of the Earth et al. v. TotaL |date=1 March 2022 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/publication/environmental-court-cases-friends-of-the-earth-v-total/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljustice2022friends, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{Friends of the Earth et al. v. TotaL}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2022}, month = mar, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/publication/environmental-court-cases-friends-of-the-earth-v-total/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }