Friends of the Earth U.S. v. Export-Import Bank of the United States

On November 4, 2025, the federal district court for the District of Columbia granted a motion to unseal the opinion issued on October 10 that denied environmental organizations’ motion for a preliminary injunction blocking the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) from disbursing loan funds for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique. The environmental organizations appealed the denial on October 30. In the unsealed opinion, the court concluded that the organizations showed a substantial likelihood that they had standing for some claims based on an informational injury resulting from EXIM’s alleged failure to share certain information prior to approving a 2025 extension of the 2019 loan after work on the LNG project was halted in 2021 after insurgents attacked a nearby town. The court concluded, however, that the organizations were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claims, including a claim under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Regarding that claim, the court found that the organizations failed to establish that EXIM’s decision not to prepare an environmental impact statement was arbitrary or contrary to law. The court was not persuaded that EXIM exercised the degree of control necessary to make its loan for the project a “major Federal action” under the NEPA. The court also concluded that the allegations regarding the increase in carbon dioxide emissions in Mozambique that would result from the project was “insufficient, on its own, to establish that it will have effects ‘within the jurisdiction of the United States.’” Although the court found that the irreparable harm factor marginally favored the organizations and that the balance of the equities “is in relative equipoise,” the court concluded the organizations’ showing on these factors was not strong enough in the absence of a likelihood of success on the merits.

The federal district court in the District of Columbia denied environmental organizations’ motion for a preliminary injunction blocking the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) from disbursing funding for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique. The district court sealed its decision regarding the preliminary injunction, and the court directed the parties to confer regarding whether the court should redact any portions of the decision before making an unsealed version public.

A lawsuit filed in the federal district court for the District of Columbia challenged the Export-Import Bank of the United States’ (EXIM’s) approval of a $4.7 billion loan to subsidize construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique. The complaint alleged that EXIM previously approved a loan for the program in 2019 and 2020 but that new approval was required because the company leading the project, TotalEnergies SE, had declared force majeure in 2021 when insurgents attacked a nearby town, reportedly killing hundreds of residents, including project contractors. The complaint asserted that EXIM’s 2025 approval of the loan violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), including because EXIM’s “acting” Board exceeded its authority and also because the loan approval violated Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 (Bank Act) limits on over-subsidization and because EXIM did not complete necessary due diligence required by the Bank Act and set out in EXIM’s Environmental and Social Procedures. In addition, the complaint asserted that EXIM violated NEPA and the APA by failing to consider the project’s direct greenhouse gas emissions and impact on the global climate.