blog
external news
our news

Over 260 organisations call on banks not to finance Total’s East African Crude Oil Pipeline
With a final investment decision nearing, African and International organisations warn banks against joining $2.5 billion loan for a “manifestly irresponsible” project • New stopeacop.net campaign website launched.
Today 263 community and not-for-profit organisations from around the world urged the CEOs of 25 banks not to participate in loans to fund the construction of the world’s longest heated crude oil pipeline. In an open letter, organisations from 49 countries, including 122 African-based organisations, detail the immense threats that the 1,445-kilometer-long East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) would pose to local communities, water supplies, and biodiversity in Uganda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya. They also warn that the pipeline – proposed by French oil company Total and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation – will fuel climate change by transporting oil that will generate over 34 million tons of carbon emissions each year. The letter to the three banks acting as financial advisors for the project – Standard Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China – and 22 banks that have recently provided finance to Total and CNOOC, comes as speculation mounts that a Final Investment Decision (FID), which would commit Total to mobilize capital for the project, is imminent. Nearly a third of the pipeline will run through the basin of Africa’s largest lake, Lake Victoria – which more than 40 million people depend on for water and food production. It will also cross more than 200 rivers, run through thousands of farms and cut through vital wildlife reserves. The pipeline is expected to cost around $3.5 billion. Of this, about $2.5…