On the 10th of April 2021, the governments of Uganda and Tanzania, alongside the French multinational Total and the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), signed the final agreements that will kickstart the construction of a controversial $3.5 billion crude oil pipeline that cuts across Uganda and Tanzania.
Both Total and CNOOC are upstream license holders in Uganda but can only commence drilling operations when the pipeline is completed. The upstream partners in Uganda’s so called Lake Albert oil project are Total (56.67%), CNOOC (28.33%) and Uganda National Oil Company – UNOC (15%).
The oil that the partners produce is expected to be transported from the Albertine Rift Basin in Western Uganda to the port of Tanga in Tanzania via the planned 1,443 kilometer (898 miles) cross-border East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
Total, UNOC, Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and CNOOC are also shareholders in the EACOP project. If constructed, the EACOP will be the longest electrically heated crude oil pipeline in the world, thus requiring a significant investment.
Potential Negative Impacts
The proposed EACOP project will have a significant negative impact on the local communities, wildlife and its habitat. The EACOP falls within sensitive biodiversity hotspots such as the Albertine Rift in Uganda which is one of the most important regions for conservation in Africa. The Albertine Rift is home to 39% of Africa’s mammal species, 51% of Africa’s bird species and 19% of Africa’s amphibian species.[1]
The Rift also it contains more vertebrate species than anywhere else on the continent in addition to hosting 79 threatened vertebrae species, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It also conserves more threatened and endemic species than any other region of Africa, and as a result is also considered a Global 200 Ecoregion and an Endemic Bird Area. Human population density in the Albertine Rift is also high with over 1000 people per square kilometer in some areas of the Rift, with some of the poorest people on the continent[2].
According to a preliminary analysis[3] these are the potential environmental and socio-economic threats:
- Habitat disturbance in approximately 2,000 km2 of protected wildlife areas – Bihambuo Game Reserve and Wembere Steppe Key Biodiversity Area.
- Potential oil spills in two Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs). These are Pemba-Shimoni-Kisite in the north and the Tanga Coelacanth in the South.
- Fresh water pollution and degradation in the regionally significant Lake Victoria that serves over 30 million people.
- Threatened integrity of important wildlife corridors for the Eastern Chimpanzee and African Elephant that cover approximately 500 km2.
- On the socio-economic front, job losses as a result of the impact the project may have on the tourism sector.
- Changes in land use patterns thus impacting cultural heritage.
- Contamination of water, land and other basic livelihood necessities.
- Increased anti -social behavior in the region as result of urbanization/ growth in these target areas.
- Potential human rights violations due to disproportionate impacts on low income and minority communities.
- Other risks include reduced state capacity due to oil dependence; potential armed conflict as has been witnessed in other parts of the continent; and displacement of numerous families that are located within the target areas.
Finally, the project will also increase the severity of the global climate crisis through the million tons of carbon that will be emitted on operationalization. Available estimates indicate that at peak production, over 34.3 million metric tonnes of carbon will be produced per year when the crude oil transported by the EACOP is burnt. This negates efforts by various countries globally that have committed to reducing emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.
Current Project Status
Despite resistance efforts from civil society organizations, the project seems like it is still on track with some delays. The current phase of the project is focused on securing the required resources to finance the project. The Uganda National Oil Company seeks to fund its 15% through domestic borrowing among others. They are however facing some internal hurdles.
Other efforts by the shareholders are also underway to secure financing from some of the world’s major financiers. It is worth noting that due to resistance efforts, some banks (Barclays, Credit Suisse, ANZ, Standard Bank and African Development Bank) have opted out of the project. More recently, three French banks (BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Agricole) have committed not to provide financing for the project as a result of the continued efforts of resistance movements.
Plans are underway to urge other financiers such as Standard Bank, SMBC and ICBC to withdraw support and desist from engaging with the project.
It is also worthwhile to note that no Environmental Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) has been published for the Tanzania part of the pipeline, and the study produced for the Ugandan portion of the pipeline was deemed unfit for purpose by independent experts who reviewed it at the government’s request. Project developers have not submitted mitigation plans and have undervalued the project’s carbon emissions.
More recently, on the 25th of May 2021, one of their field officers of an OWA network member, Mr. Maxwell Atuhura from the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) along with Ms. Federica Marsi, an Italian journalist were detained by the Ugandan Police. It unclear what charges they face as these have not been communicated.
Prior to their arrest, Mr. Atuhura and Ms. Marsi had been conducting interviews with community members whose land is being acquired or has been acquired within the Tilenga block in Buliisa district.
The communities within the area have complained of being unfairly and inadequately compensated under the EACOP project. Cases to stop the unfair and inadequate compensation have been filed in courts including in France. Efforts by civil society organisations (CSOs) and communities to defend the communities’ land and environment rights have resulted in reprisals from the state.
OWA recommendations
Therefore, OWA calls on:
- The governments of Uganda and Tanzania to revoke the licenses of both Total and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) due to the significant environmental and socio-economic impacts of the proposed project. We also call for transparency and acknowledgment of the potential impacts of the project in both countries.
- The governments of Uganda and Tanzania to consider its climate commitments based on their respective Nationally Determined Contributions as we face an unprecedented global crisis.
- The governments of Uganda and Tanzania to commit to the upholding basic human rights including the release of the AFIEGO officer and the Italian journalist that are currently in detention.
- Potential financiers of the project to review independent reports on the potential negative impacts of the project on the people, wildlife, habitats and climate in the region including the spill over effects before committing to the project.
- Shareholders of Total to vote against Total’s climate ambition and urging it to table a new climate resolution requiring it to adopt a viable trajectory for its activities and to condition their financial support to the end of fossil energy projects. The tide is changing as has been witnessed with the recent court ruling against Shell’s emissions targets.
- The Chinese Government to withdraw from the agreement due to its potential long-term impact on regionally significant countries.
- Potential financiers and development partners to consider responsible investments such as supporting innovative alternative energy sources within the region that could address potential energy gaps and income deficits.
- Oilwatch Africa and other global network members in solidarity with comrades in the movement to support ongoing resistance efforts such the call to withdraw support by potential banks. (Access the call organized by BankTrack, Inclusive Development International, 350 Africa and 39 other civil society organizations in the region, here)
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For any queries or further statements, please contact:
Joy Juma
Oilwatch Africa, Coordinator
Email: joy@oilwatch.africa
Tel: +254 792 055 622
John Ngabirano
Youths Projects Coordinator
National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE)
Email: ngabiranojohn@gmail.com
Tel: +256 779 670 981
[1] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235944860_Albertine_Rift_Biodiversity
[2] https://albertinerift.wcs.org/
[3] WWF, 2017 Safeguarding People & Nature in the East African Crude Oil (EACOP) Pipeline Project, A preliminary environmental and socio-economic threat analysis, WWF and CSCO Research Paper No. 3, 2017, Kampala, Uganda. Safeguarding People & Nature in the East African Crude Oil (EACOP) Pipeline Project, A preliminary environmental and socio-economic threat analysis, WWF and CSCO Research Paper No. 3. Kampala, Uganda: WWF and Civil Society Coalition on Oil and Gas ( CSCO)