Cases / Oil, gas and coal operations · Mozambique · 2014–2024
Mozambique LNG environmental assessment (ERM)
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 2 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 disputed See the gaps
ERM, a consultancy about 60% owned by the private equity firm KKR, prepared the environmental impact assessment for the Mozambique LNG project for Anadarko and Eni. A 2024 Drilled report examined the project manager's later move to Anadarko and TotalEnergies; ERM rejects the conflict-of-interest claim.
about 60%KKR's stake in ERM, bought in May 2021
The deal valued the company at $2.85 billion (Globe and Mail, May 2021).
The deal valued the company at $2.85 billion (Globe and Mail, May 2021).
Status As of 2024: ERM rejects the conflict-of-interest claim raised in the Drilled report; no ruling or review outcome was found.
What?
ERM prepared the environmental impact assessment for the Mozambique LNG project for Anadarko and Eni. Drilled
Where?
Mozambique. Drilled
When?
Assessment dated 2014 and report dated 2024 in the sources. Drilled
Who?
Gained
- ERM — Authored the assessment for Anadarko and Eni; majority owned by KKR since May 2021. The Globe and Mail
- KKR — Owns about 60% of ERM and held stakes in Anadarko projects. Drilled
Lost
None on recordHarmed
None on recordWhy?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
A consultancy prepared the assessment for the project's developers. Drilled
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
ERM prepared the environmental impact assessment for the Mozambique LNG project for Anadarko and Eni. The project manager who coordinated the assessment later worked as an environmental adviser at Anadarko and then at TotalEnergies. ERM rejects the suggestion that this created a conflict of interest.
In May 2021 the private equity firm KKR bought about 60% of ERM, valuing the company at $2.85 billion. KKR also held stakes in Anadarko projects and has a majority stake in TC Energy's Coastal GasLink pipeline. A civil-society report cited by the Drilled outlet in 2024 said KKR had invested in about 200 fossil-fuel assets with annual emissions of about 93 million tonnes.
- 2014Period dated for the ERM assessment and the project manager's later moves (Drilled, 2014 / 2024)
- 2021KKR buys about 60% of ERM, valuing the company at $2.85 billion (May)
- 2024Drilled publishes its report on ERM, the Mozambique LNG assessment and KKR's fossil assets
What was said
Claims, in the words of those who made them.
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Did the assessment's author have a conflict of interest?
How it looked
What was shown, beside what was recorded.
Shown
Recorded
- ERM prepared the Mozambique LNG environmental impact assessment for Anadarko and Eni.
- The ERM project manager who coordinated the assessment later worked as an environmental adviser at Anadarko, then at TotalEnergies.
- KKR owns about 60% of ERM; the May 2021 deal valued the company at $2.85 billion.
Who gained
Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.
Reached nature or the ground
Not published
No figure published.
Gained elsewhere
Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: . All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.
Responses on record
- ERM (2024): Rejects the suggestion of a conflict of interest. · Drilled
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What nature saw
Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
Findings of the Mozambique LNG assessment on nature
Not in the record
The sources reviewed do not state what the assessment found about the project's effects on nature
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Accounts
- Disputed Did the assessment's author have a conflict of interest?
Record
- None on record The sources reviewed do not state what the Mozambique LNG assessment found about effects on nature.
- Not disclosed The purchase price of KKR's stake in ERM was not disclosed; the reported company value was $2.85 billion.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not show that KKR's ownership changed any specific ERM report.
- Insufficient A trade publication is reported to describe oil and gas as the largest slice of ERM's portfolio, without giving a percentage; this is reported but not independently verified.
- Insufficient MUFG is reported by Zitamar to be a lender to Mozambique LNG; this is reported but not independently verified.
Did the harm stop?
Not applicable: the record concerns the authorship and ownership of the assessment, not a recorded harm.
Who paid?
The sources reviewed do not state who paid ERM for the assessment.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers
Press and investigations
- OMERS, AIMCo sell majority stake in Britain's ERM to KKRThe Globe and Mail · 2021-05
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