De
wereld zucht onder de gevolgen van de klimaatverandering: -enorm
grote bosbranden tot aan de poolcirkel, -steeds heviger wordend
natuurgeweld als orkanen, -het afsmelten van de poolkappen en
gletsjers en -een opwarming van de oceanen die het volledige
ecosysteem van die oceanen in gevaar brengt, dus niet alleen het
afsterven van koraalriffen, maar ook het verdwijnen van uiterst
kleine diersoorten (kril), waarvan niet alleen de gewone vissoorten
afhankelijk zijn, maar ook walvissen…… (en vergeet daarbij niet dat de gewone vissoorten zelf al in gevaar komen door enorme overbevissing)
Het is
nu meer dan voldoende bewezen dat de mens de oorzaak is van deze
klimaatverandering en dan m.n. de verbranding van fossiele
brandstoffen door de mens….. De oliegiganten Exxon en Shell wisten dit zelfs uit
eigen diepgravend onderzoek en dat al in respectievelijk de 70er en
80er jaren van de vorige eeuw (waarna ze de resultaten van dat
onderzoek wegmoffelden in diepe kluizen en wetenschappers inhuurden
om het tegendeel te beweren….)
Hoe is
het dan toch mogelijk dat de banken nog steeds investeren in olie- en
gaswinning, ja zelfs in de winning van steenkool door investeringen
in mijnbouw en overslaghavens….. Nu blijkt dat banken alweer een
enorm lange (verwarmde) oliepijpleiding willen financieren*,
de East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in Oost Afrika, een
pijpleiding van Oeganda naar Tanzania en dat mede door
(kwetsbare) natuurgebieden……
Eén ding is zeker als zo’n pijpleiding in
gebruik wordt genomen >> binnen de kortste keren treden lekken op,
lekken die enorme gebieden voor jaren, ja zelfs tientallen jaren
kunnen vervuilen en daarbij de bestaande natuur vernietigen, inclusief de kleinere diersoorten en insecten die daar leven, terwijl daarnaast
oppervlaktewater en grondwater zwaar worden vervuild…….
Dan te bedenken dat een deel van deze pijpleiding door rivieren en andere stromen richting Lake Victoria gaat, waarbij een klein deel zelfs door dat meer zal lopen, een meer waarvan 30 miljoen mensen afhankelijk zijn wat betreft water- en voedselvoorziening…….. Voorts blijkt dat het gebied rond Lake Victoria seismisch actief is, waardoor een aardbeving de pijpleiding op zeker deels zal vernielen, met alle al genoemde gevolgen van dien……
Lees het
volgende relaas en teken de petitie ajb, banken moeten eindelijk eens
kiezen voor het leven en voortsbestaan van de wereld zoals wij die kennen, niet voor het geld en daarbij vernietiging
van de aarde en de dood van grote aantallen diersoorten, om over de
gevolgen voor bewoners van vervuilde gebieden nog maar te
zwijgen……. (en dan te bedenken dat er jaarlijks wereldwijd 8,8 mensen jaren eerder sterven door langdurige blootstelling aan luchtvervuiling veroorzaakt door uitstoot van fabrieken, auto’s, vliegtuigen en schepen)
Stop the East African Crude Oil Pipeline
Inclusive
Development International is campaigning with a broad coalition of
local, regional and international organizations to stop the East
African Crude Oil Pipeline.
The proposed
1,445-kilometer pipeline from Hoima, Uganda to the port of Tanga in
Tanzania would be the longest heated pipeline in the world. It
threatens to enable the opening up of critical ecosystems, including
Murchison Falls National Park, to oil extraction. It would
cause large-scale displacement of communities and pose grave risks to
protected environments, water sources and wetlands in both Uganda and
Tanzania, including the Lake Victoria basin, which millions of people
rely upon for drinking water and food production. And it would
enable the extraction and transport of oil from northern Uganda and
potentially DRC that would generate over 34 million tonnes of CO2
emissions each year.
On March 20, 2020 more than 100
civil society organizations wrote to the President of the African
Development Bank (AfDB) Akinwumi Adesina urging the bank not to fund this
dangerous project but instead help meet Africa’s energy needs in a
clean and rights-compatible manner. Read the letter here.
The African Development Bank responded
to the letter, making a public commitment that it would not fund
the pipeline.
About the East
African Crude Oil Pipeline
Approximately 1.7 billion barrels
of recoverable oil have been discovered in the Albertine Graben, the
basin of Lake Albert, on the border between Uganda and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. Extraction will take place at two oil fields:
the Kingfisher field, operated by China National Offshore Oil
Corporation Ltd (CNOOC Ltd), and the Tilenga field, operated by Total
S.A.
Once extracted, the oil will be
partly refined in Uganda to supply the local market and partly
exported to the international market via the East African Crude Oil
Export Pipeline (EACOP). The 1,445-kilometer pipeline will transport
crude oil south from Uganda for export at the Port of Tanga in
Tanzania.
The EACOP pipeline will carry
216,000 barrels of crude oil per day (10.9 million metric tons per
year) at ‘plateau production’ according to the project’s
website. According to calculations based on the specific fuel density
of the EACOP blend, the emissions from the burning of this fuel would
be at least 34.3 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent (CO2e) per
year.
These emissions will dwarf the current
annual emissions of its two host countries combined, and
will in fact be roughly equivalent to the carbon emissions of
Denmark.
In addition to contributing to the
climate crisis, the project poses serious environmental and social
risks to protected wildlife areas, water sources and communities
throughout Uganda and Tanzania.
Extraction at the oil fields in
Albertine Graben will also jeopardize the Murchison Falls National
Park (MFNP), which is important for tourism as Uganda’s second most
visited national park. In addition, the mangroves at the coast of
Tanzania which the pipeline puts at
risk support approximately 150,000 people, in addition to the
ecological services they provide. The 300 permanent jobs the
pipeline is expected to create will not compensate for the loss of
jobs in agriculture, tourism and mangroves.
Nearly a third of the planned
pipeline (460 kilometers) will be constructed in the basin of
Africa’s largest lake, Lake Victoria. More than 30 million people
depend on Lake Victoria for water and food production. The pipeline
also crosses several rivers and streams that flow into the lake,
including the Kagera River. Possible spills from the pipeline
due to bad maintenance, accidents, third-party interference or
natural disasters, risk fresh water pollution and degradation in this
area – a likelihood that is even greater since the area around Lake
Victoria is an active seismic area.
The pipeline route also traverses a
number of heavily populated districts in both Uganda and Tanzania,
and large-scale land acquisition and resettlement is expected as a
result of pipeline construction and associated oil extraction and
infrastructure, on both a temporary and permanent basis. Between
9,500 and 14,500 farms are estimated to be affected by construction
in Tanzania alone.
As a result of these grave risks,
the project is facing significant local community and civil society
resistance.
Brief History
The exploration company Tullow Oil
discovered oil in Uganda’s Albertine Graben in 2006. The Government
of Uganda issued production licenses for the oil fields in August
2016.
Small amounts of oil were extracted during the exploration
phase, but full-scale commercial production has not yet begun.
Commercial production was originally expected to begin in 2020, but
has been pushed back to 2021 due to delays in finalizing the
financing structure.
The pipeline was originally under
development by the three oil companies; Tullow, Total, and CNOOC; in
partnership with the Ugandan and Tanzanian state-owned oil companies.
Stanbic Bank Uganda and Sumitomo Mitsui (SMBC) of Japan are the project’s
financial advisors.
Debt financing for the pipeline is expected to
amount to approximately USD 2.5 billion. In June 2020, after
suffering major financial losses, Tullow completely divested its
shares in the project to Total and CNOOC. But CNOOC chose not
to exercise its right to buy its portion, which would have created a
true 50/50 joint venture with Total. Tullow ultimately agreed to
transfer its entire interests in the proposed East African Crude Oil
Pipeline (EACOP) System to Total Uganda, making Total the majority
owner of the project.
The Inter-governmental Agreement
between Uganda and Tanzania was signed in May 2017, securing the
pipeline route.
The U.S. firm Gulf Interstate
Engineers completed the front-end engineering design (FEED) for the
pipeline in early 2018 and shared the findings at workshops with
Ugandan and Tanzanian stakeholders. An Environmental and Social
Impact Assessment (ESIA) was provided to the National Environmental
Management Authority (NEMA) in January 2019.
Work on the pipeline has been
suspended in August 2019 when Tullow’s previous efforts to sell its
stake in the project collapsed. Ugandan officials have said they
expect oil extraction to begin in 2023.
Lets Stop the Money
Pipeline
Despite the catastrophic ecological
and human rights risks of EACOP, Standard Bank, Africa’s biggest
lender, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) of Japan are
reportedly seeking to raise $2.5 billion in financing for the
project.
Please sign
this petition
calling on the banks not to finance this project and instead focus
its finance on green projects which will positively transform East
Africa’s economies for future generations.
News and Updates
Breaking:
(June 25, 2020) – 350.org delivered a petition
to Standard Bank at its Annual General Meeting representing the over
23,000 people who have signed on opposing the bank’s plans to fund
the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.
A
Major Oil Pipeline Project Strikes Deep at the Heart of Africa –
Yale E360, May 21, 2020
AfDB
Says No Plans to Fund Uganda-Tanzania pipeline — The East African,
April 11, 2020
==================================
*
In het artikel wordt gesproken over de langste oliepijpleiding ooit,
echter dat is niet waar., zo is de Dacota Access Pipeline (DAPL) meer dan
1.800 kilometer lang en ook deze pijleiding werd en wordt door
banken gefinancierd……..
Heb ook het label TMX toegevoegd, een oliepijpleiding dwars door natuurgebieden en heilige gebieden van de oorsprankelijke beovlking van wat nu Canada heet…. Het label Keystone XL staat als DAPL voor dergelijke oliepijpleidingen in de VS.