Introduction
Four Ugandan farmers have filed a lawsuit in the High Court in London, UK, against the contentious oil pipeline under construction in Uganda and Tanzania, announced human rights group Avaaz at a press conference on July 7.
The 1,443-kilometer (897-mile) East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) will stretch from the Tilenga and Kingfisher oil fields in landlocked Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga for export. The pipeline is being built by French energy giant TotalEnergies.
Environmental and Social Impacts
The Tilenga and Kingfisher fields lie near Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda’s largest protected area and home to endangered Rothschild’s giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi) and African bush elephants (Loxodonta africana). The pipeline will also cross 16 protected areas and the Lake Victoria Basin that’s vital for more than 40 million people.
Environmental groups have warned that the ecosystem could suffer severe damage in the event of an oil spill. The construction of the pipeline also raises concerns about social impacts, including land expropriation and loss of livelihoods for local communities.
The Lawsuit
The lawsuit was filed against EACOP Limited, a UK-registered company that has the potential to cause devastation in Uganda and in the wider world, according to Matthew Renshaw, a partner at law firm Leigh Day, which is representing the claimants.
Joanna Setzer, an associate professor at the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute, said at the press conference that UK courts are looking at similar cases of UK-registered companies allegedly causing harm in other countries. But the timing is critical in this case because it’s before the damage, before the harm occurs.
Conclusion
The lawsuit by Ugandan farmers against the TotalEnergies oil pipeline project is an example of how local communities and human rights groups are mobilizing to protect the environment and human rights in the face of large-scale projects.
Source / Reference: Mongabay