The construction of a pipeline in East Africa threatens millions of people and animals, and represents a step backwards in global climate efforts.
The new Energy Minister Mary Goretti Kitutu has stated that construction work has begun at the Kingfisher and Tilenga fields, where the China national offshore oil corporation (Cnooc) and French oil giant Total intend to drill five hundred oil wells. The two companies have already spent around four billion dollars on infrastructure.
"In the middle of a global pandemic, with demand for oil in free fall and prices at rock bottom, it might seem a singular moment to ramp up global oil production," writes the environmental journal Yale Environment 360. "But the petrochemical industries are always looking for new reserves to replace those that are running out." And the fields on the shores of Lake Albert are currently "among the largest and cheapest new oil reserves available."
Yale Environment 360 says it has reviewed an independent quality analysis of the project by the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment (Ncea), which concluded that the environmental and social impact assessment (Esia) "does not provide enough information to make a sensible decision" and is, in general, "unfit for purpose."
In a 2017 report, Wwf Uganda announced that the pipeline "would likely cause significant disruption, fragmentation and increased poaching in a natural habitat of very significant biodiversity," in environments inhabited by elephants, lions and chimpanzees, animals listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (Iucn) Red List.
Across the border in Tanzania, the pipeline will pass through the Biharamulo nature reserve, which is home to one of the last five colonies of Piliocolobus monkeys, and also hosts hippos, elephants, zebras and, according to tourist companies, mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei). Further east, it will cross 32 kilometres of the Wembere steppe, a seasonally flooded grassland known for its birdlife.
Furthermore, "almost a third of the pipeline will be built in the Lake Victoria basin, upon which the livelihoods of around thirty million people depend," according to the Global facility for disaster reduction and recovery. "An oil spill could have catastrophic effects on local water sources, the environment and the communities living there. The likelihood of an accident increases given the pipeline's route, which will cross a medium seismic risk zone (the second highest level of severity)."
A coalition of African and international organisations wrote to the African development bank (AfDB) asking it to reject a proposal to fund the project. Several organisations raised serious concerns about the potentially harmful and irreversible climate, environmental and social impact of this project, describing the pipeline as "extremely high risk" in a letter sent to Akinwumi Adesina, president of the AfDB, on 19 March 2020.
In response to a petition organised by a consortium of associations from around the world, the bank rejected claims that it intended to fund the pipeline. It also renewed its commitment to financing only projects that promote sustainable development on the continent, thereby ruling out any support for the pipeline's construction.
Meanwhile, an online petition has also been launched against a project by Standard Bank, Africa's largest lending institution, and Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui banking corporation (Smbc). This project aims to raise more than 2.5 billion dollars in loans to restart the currently delayed pipeline construction. To date, the petition has nearly reached its target of 25,000 signatures. Standard Bank and Smbc play a key role as advisers to the governments of Uganda and Tanzania and, reportedly, Total is organising a 2.5 billion dollar loan to finance projects for the completion of the structure.
Experts have noted Standard Bank's significant organisational role, especially given that it currently holds the presidency of the Equator principles association, the governing body of the banking initiative on environmental and social risk management for project finance.
The petrochemical companies involved claim to have resolved the social and environmental problems associated with the oil fields and the pipeline, and that the environmental and social impact assessments have issued a certificate of suitability. They also boast of having consulted with 58,000 people and of having chosen a route that minimises the number of people who will need to relocate. But local residents disagree.
Several news reports have identified a series of problems in the mapping and assessment process carried out by the consultancy firm Newplan Limited on behalf of Total. These problems include undocumented and underestimated structures and plantations. People affected by the project have stated that they were "harassed and forced to sign various documents without a clear explanation" and that they were told to "fill in the forms in pencil and sign in pen" — a clear indication of corruption.
The pipeline construction project is currently at a standstill, and Total has confirmed that it has sent workers home and halted work until further notice. These measures followed news that London-listed oil exploration company Tullow Oil was forced to shelve its plans to sell to Total and Cnooc the majority of its share (33.33 per cent) of the Ugandan oil projects, due to a disagreement with the Ugandan government over taxes.
Ugandan law includes an income tax established in 1997, which requires a company to pay capital gains tax when it profits from the sale of its business. Tullow Oil must therefore pay 167 million dollars in taxes and any other levy provided for under Ugandan law.
Many struggles against equally damaging pipeline and oil pipeline construction projects continue in other parts of the continent and in other countries such as the United States, where the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline and the Atlantic Coast pipeline is still planned. We must ensure that global warming stays below 1.5 degrees Celsius, and to achieve this more than eighty per cent of known fossil reserves must remain in the ground. It is therefore essential to stop all projects that lead to the extraction of new oil, gas and coal, including the East African crude oil pipeline.
Translated by Elettra Tsikoudis