Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa has condemned a resolution by the European Parliament calling on Uganda and Tanzania to stop the development of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) on account of the human rights violations in Uganda and Tanzania.
While chairing plenary on Thursday, 15 September 2022, Tayebwa described the EU decision as uninformed and based on hearsay. “This motion and resolution curtails progress of Uganda’s oil and gas developments,” he said. On Thursday, the EU parliament adopted an urgent resolution denouncing the human rights violations as well as the major environmental and climate risks posed by the Tilenga and EACOP projects, developed by Total in Uganda and Tanzania.
The EU legislators also asked to “put an end to the extractive activities in protected and sensitive ecosystems, including the shores of Lake Albert”, referring to the 132 wells that Total plans to dig into the Murchison Falls.
National Park, a protected area, and to the numerous protected ecosystems which the 50°C heated EACOP pipeline will cross.
Quoting the International Energy Agency’s 2021 report, they also recall that to have a chance to limit global warming to 1,5°C, no new oil extraction project should be developed.
But Dr Joseph Kobushehe, the PAU’s director for environment, health, safety and security management, in a recent interview said that discussions on the conservation approaches is ongoing.
“The conversation on offset and net gain is one we have been having not just with TotalEnergies, but with other agencies like UWA and NEMA.
So there are four pillars here; wildlife, fisheries, wetlands, and forestry.” He added: “Biodiversity offsets need to be understood that they stem from the fact that our first priority area is to avoid as much as possible.
Where it is possible you minimize, restore and then have a stage where you can apply all mitigation measures available.
For instance, if you are constructing a road you can avoid all sensitive areas by [re]routing the road appropriately, including reducing on the width, having flyovers, etc, but in the end you get a road that reaches somewhere.”
In 2019, Friends of the Earth France, together with Survie and four Ugandan NGOs, filed a lawsuit against Total, concerning the serious human rights violations and risks of irreversible environmental damages associated to the Tilenga and EACOP projects,
should be heard on the merits on October 12th this year, before the Paris civil court. The EACOP will run 1,443km from the oil fields in Hoima in mid-western Uganda to the Indian Ocean Tanga Port in Tanzania.
The Uganda pipeline sections stretches for 296km in 10 districts while the Tanzania section runs for 1,147km through 25 districts and eight regions.
