Filing alleges failure to conduct adequate human rights due diligence, as scrutiny grows over financing of fossil fuel projects.     

June 15, 2026 (Tokyo) – Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC) has filed a formal complaint with Japan’s National Contact Point (NCP) under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, alleging that major Japanese financial institutions have failed to address severe human rights risks linked to the Mozambique LNG project. 

The complaint targets five Japanese financial institutions, namely Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Mizuho Bank, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), for their roles in financing and insuring the project. The two latter institutions, Japan’s major public financing institutions, have cumulatively committed more than USD 5.5 billion in financing and insurance to the project. [1], [2], [3] 

The filing comes amid growing scrutiny of fossil fuel financing and increasing calls for financial institutions to meet international human rights standards. 

The Mozambique LNG development is reportedly the largest private investment in an African LNG development to date. [4] The project, led by TotalEnergies, has been linked to serious human rights abuses in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique. These include large-scale violence affecting civilians, allegations of unlawful detention and abuse at the project site, and unresolved grievances from communities displaced without adequate compensation. [5] In 2021, TotalEnergies declared force majeure due to violent attacks that occurred in the project’s region. By November 2025, TotalEnergies decided to withdraw the force majeure status and resume the project. [6] 

SFOC argues that despite mounting evidence of escalating conflict and human rights harms, the financial institutions continued to support the project without adequate and independently carried out human rights due diligence or efforts to prevent or mitigate harm. 

The filing calls on the institutions to urgently: 

• Support and conduct independent investigations into alleged human rights abuses connected to the Mozambique LNG project; and 

• Ensure effective remedy for affected communities, including those displaced or harmed by project-related activities 

While the complaint focuses on human rights, it also raises concerns about the project’s substantial greenhouse gas emissions, which are consistent with neither global nor Japan’s climate goals. 

SFOC’s filing follows a related complaint submitted on June 5 by Justiça Ambiental (JA!) and Friends of the Earth Japan against Mitsui & Co. and JOGMEC, equity investors in the project, underscoring growing international scrutiny of the Mozambique LNG development. [7] 

The OECD NCP process provides a platform for dialogue and mediation between complainants and companies and may result in recommendations on how the institutions should align their practices with international standards on responsible business conduct. For Japanese financial institutions, failing to engage in this process or to act on its final recommendations could pose severe risks of reputational damage, exclusion from ESG-focused investment portfolios, and pressure from international partners to withhold or condition the relaunch of financing for the multi-billion-dollar project. 

Kete Fumo, National Coordinator of the Gas Campaign at Justiça Ambiental (JA!), said, “The Mozambique LNG project has already affected thousands of lives through land dispossession, restricted access to livelihoods, and a long and complex resettlement process in an area affected by conflict, where multiple allegations of human rights violations have been well documented. Considered a potential “carbon bomb” in one of Africa’s most climate-vulnerable countries, the project raises serious concerns at a time when extreme weather events are becoming increasingly frequent and severe. In light of these facts, continued financing of the project demonstrates a troubling disregard for the rights and well-being of affected communities.” 

Kaoru Koide, a legal fellow at Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC), said, “In connection with the gas field development in Mozambique, serious human rights violations have come to light – ranging from harm to local residents’ daily lives and the places where they earn their livelihoods, to, ultimately, the loss of life through violence. The development also inflicts serious harm by exacerbating the climate crisis and destroying ecosystems. Although Mozambique lies physically far from Japan, part of the LNG produced from that gas field is slated to be shipped to and consumed in Japan. In this sense, this is an issue that is very close to home for people living in Japan – one that cannot be ignored. This case poses a fundamental question: is it acceptable for the lives of local people and the environment to be sacrificed for the sake of energy consumption in Japan?  

Dr. Pichamon Yeophantong, Chairperson of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, said, “Turning to the human rights requirements for financial institutions, the UNGPs and the work of the Working Group on institutional investors make clear that investors and lenders are not neutral conduits of capital. Silence in the face of human rights harms is complicity. Japan’s choices here will resonate far beyond Cabo Delgado, impacting its reputation as a global leader in business and human rights.” 

ENDS. 

Data Sources

1. Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC),“Project Financing for Mozambique LNG Project (Rovuma Offshore Area 1 Block),” press release, July 16, 2020, https://www.jbic.go.jp/en/information/press/press-2020/0716-013514.html. 

2. Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI),“News Release,” June 30, 2020, https://www.nexi.go.jp/en/topics/newsrelease/2020063002.html.

3. Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC),“Press Release,” February 16, 2020, https://www.jbic.go.jp/en/information/press/press-2020/0216-014303.html.

4. France 24, “Huge Mozambique Gas Project Restarts After Five-Year Pause,” January 29, 2026, https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260129-huge-mozambique-gas-project-restarts-after-five-year-pause.

5. Friends of the Earth Japan, “Mozambique and Mozambique LNG” August 27, 2024, https://foejapan.org/issue/20240827/20016/.

6. France 24, “TotalEnergies Approves Restart of $20 bn Mozambique Gas Project,” October 25, 2025, https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20251025-totalenergies-approves-restart-of-20-bn-mozambique-gas-project.

7. Friends of the Earth Japan,“Serious Human Rights Violations Continue at the Mozambique LNG Project: Complaint Filed with the Japan and the UK NCP on Japanese Companies’ Violations of the OECD Guidelines,” press release, June 5, 2026, https://foejapan.org/en/issue/20260605/29890/.

Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC) is an independent nonprofit organization that works to accelerate global greenhouse gas emissions reduction and energy transition. SFOC leverages research, litigation, community organizing, and strategic communications to deliver practical climate solutions and build movements for change. 

For media inquiries, please reach out to:  

Andrea Leung, Head of Communications, andrea.leung@forourclimate.org