Recent study by Climate Accountability Institute (CAI) has established that the new oil pipeline being constructed in Uganda and Tanzania is likely to produce massive amounts of carbon dioxide.
The controversial project will result in 379m tonnes of climate-heating pollution, according to an expert assessment, more than 25 times the combined annual emissions of Uganda and Tanzania
The East African crude oil pipeline (EACOP) is expected to transport the oil, drilled in a national park, from Uganda to Tanzania. Environmental assessments by the EACOP consortium were approved by the host governments, but only the construction and operation of the pipeline were considered.
CAI has established that construction and operation contributed just over 1.8 per cent of the “full emissions of the project when taking into account overseas transport, refining and burning of the 848m barrels of oil by end users.”
The study took into consideration the 25-year lifespan of the project and refining in Europe and China. In the years of peak oil flow, the associated emissions would be more than double those of Uganda and Tanzania in 2020.
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CAI’s Richard Heede, who has described EACOP as a “mid-sized carbon bomb”, argues that it is time for TotalEnergies to abandon the monstrous EACOP that promises to worsen the climate crisis, waste billions of dollars that could be used for good, bring mayhem to human settlements and wildlife along the pipeline’s path.”
Jointly financed by French oil company TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the multibillion-dollar project undermines the effort being made to reduce the amount of emissions.
The project has drawn protests from different quarters with majority arguing that it poses grave danger to the environment. Omar Elmawi, coordinator of the Stop EACOP campaign, said: “EACOP and the associated oilfields in Uganda are a climate bomb that is being camouflaged us as an economic enabler to Uganda and Tanzania. It is for the benefit of people, nature and climate to stop this project.”
