Hi John,
“Pegs were planted in my land to show where the pipeline would pass,” says Teddy Nakintu, a 78-year old grandmother from Lwengo district in Uganda. “When I saw those pegs, all my peace disappeared. I have only known sorrow and disease since.”(1)
Communities in Uganda and Tanzania are resisting plans for the largest heated oil pipeline ever – the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
This 1,445km pipeline threatens to displace thousands of families and farmers from their land, has already disrupted the livelihoods of many, and will transport 6 billion barrels of oil around the world to be burnt. Yet right now companies in the City of London are considering whether to back it.
Construction of this pipeline cannot proceed without insurance. And already eight UK insurance firms, and numerous global counterparts, have committed to avoid insuring it, in response to public pressure.(2)
Now, as the UK insurance industry prepares to gather for a major annual conference in Manchester tomorrow, we’re joining the Stop EACOP campaign to put pressure on the remaining UK insurers to rule out underwriting this destructive project.
In March thousands of us called on London-based Tokio Marine Kiln to declare that it won’t fund EACOP – its parent company has since strengthened its climate policy, though not sufficiently.(3) Now we’re targeting Chaucer Group, another major insurer with headquarters in London that has yet to clarify its position on this project.
Can you take action now by emailing Chaucer Group’s CEO? Please demand that they publicly rule out insuring this destructive pipeline.
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As the corporations behind EACOP – which include French multinational Total – continue to look for insurance, plans for construction are already underway.
Last month a report by the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) highlighted the damage the pipeline is already causing to communities in Uganda whose land has been forcibly taken. Stories abound of loss of livelihoods and subcontractors refusing promised assistance, despite commitments made by the companies behind the project.
"Why at this old age of mine am I involved in the fight of my life with EACOP?” says Teddy Nakinda, 78. “I am an old woman. I was living in peace before this pipeline, and caused no one any harm. I have tried to engage the EACOP Company so that they physically relocate me, without success. Because I have been complaining, I have also not received the livelihood restoration assistance that the company is giving to other community members."
“I did not want to sign the agreement because I was being given little compensation but I was in a lot of fear since others were signing,” says Gloria Twikirize, a 30-year old single mother from Hoima district. “I had also been intimidated. Food scarcity, worries about how to feed my children and nephew, income loss and a morbid fear to have more children as I am too poor now: that is the legacy of the EACOP in my life!”
These shocking stories could be the tip of the iceberg. Nearly a third of the pipeline will run through the basin of Lake Victoria – Africa's largest lake – and threatens to pollute this vital water source, which 40 million people rely on for drinking water and food production.
Communities in Uganda are standing against this project, and we have the power to stand with them and make a difference. By exerting pressure on the major fossil fuel insurers, many of whom operate right here in the UK, we can help prevent them from providing the insurance this pipeline needs to proceed.
Can you take action now by writing to the Chaucer Group CEO and demanding they refuse to back EACOP?
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Together, we can help put pressure on the insurance industry to stop supporting fossil fuel expansion – one of the key pillars of our work to bring an end to the fossil fuel era.(4)
Thanks for everything you're doing,
Sam Lund-Harket
Campaigner at Global Justice Now
PS. Stop EACOP supporters will also be protesting at BIBA, the UK insurance industry conference in Manchester, from 8am tomorrow. Join them if you can.
Notes
1. Stories of pain and resistance by oil-affected communities, AFIEGO, April 2024
2. Who's backing the pipeline and who's ruled it out?, Stop EACOP
3. Tokio Marine’s strengthened climate policy does not go far enough, Insure Our Future, 18 March 2024
4. Demand a global exit plan from fossil fuels, Global Justice Now
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