Welcome to the global campaign to stop the East African Crude Oil Pipeline!
French oil giant, Total, and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation are on the cusp of building a massive crude oil pipeline right through the heart of Africa. The East African Crude Oil Pipeline will displace communities, endanger wildlife and tip the world closer to climate catastrophe.
Local communities and organizations have been leading the charge against the reckless project and promoting ways to create a safe and fair economy that everyone can benefit from, but speaking out in countries like Uganda and Tanzania can come with serious risks. So local campaigners are looking to international allies and supporters – like you – who can step up and help amplify their messages.
A local activist, who does not want to me named due to safety concerns, says stopping EACOP needs to be a global effort that focuses on cutting-off the corporate and political support needed to construct the pipeline.
“We can be the eyes and ears, but it’s not safe for us to use our voices – we need to borrow those of our friends around the world. But this is not simply a matter of standing in solidarity, for although the companies want to build this crude oil pipeline in East Africa, the companies and their funding is international. The impacts of the pipeline will be global, it will scuttle the world’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions."
Stretching for 1,445 kilometers, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline will rip through some of the world’s most important elephant, lion and chimpanzee nature reserves, cross 200 rivers and thousands of farms and pass through the basin of Africa’s largest lake, Lake Victoria, which more than 40 million people depend on for water and food production.
David Pred, the Executive Director at Inclusive Development International, says the impacts of EACOP will be felt worldwide and for generations to come as the pipeline will enable the transportation of oil that will generate over 34 million tons of carbon emissions each year.
“EACOP would be bad news for the communities in East Africa, terrible news for wildlife and biodiversity, and ghastly news for our shared need to limit climate change. We must send a very clear message to every bank considering financing it and every firm considering providing insurance, that supporting EACOP would be a disaster,” said Pred.
Over the coming weeks and months, the coalition members will be providing supporters with various ways to help stop EACOP in its tracks by supporting the campaign with public mobilizations, legal actions, research, shareholder activism, and media advocacy.
Photo credit: Sandra Imbault
