Climate change campaigners protested at Chinese embassies in 10 countries on Tuesday, calling on China not to finance the construction of TotalEnergies’ controversial oil pipeline in East Africa.
Activists said Chinese banks and insurers are financiers of “last resort” for TotalEnergies, which has struggled to secure the loans it needs to build the pipeline.
The French energy giant is pushing ahead with its Tilenga drilling project in Uganda and the 1,443-kilometre (897-mile) East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) to transport its output to the Tanzanian coast.
Despite opposition from environmentalists, drilling began in mid-2023 and production is slated for 2025.
TotalEnergies, which is working with Chinese oil company CNOOC, is seeking to borrow $3 billion to get the pipeline project off the ground, according to several campaign groups opposing the project.
Amid global opposition from human rights activists and environmentalists, 29 insurance companies and 27 banks have ruled out support for the pipeline, according to a tally by the StopEACOP campaign.
“TotalEnergies has lost all its major international financial supporters,” said activists in a statement, which have previously decried the project as “a disaster” for local communities and fragile ecosystems.
Scientists have warned that developing new oil and gas fields is incompatible with the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above 1850-1950 pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Chinese state-owned credit insurance company Sinosure and China Export Import (Exim) Bank are considering support for the project.
“This is a critical moment. Sinosure is expected to give its decision in July. If it accepts to insure the project, it would give the green light to other Chinese banks,” said Romane Audeoud, a member of the StopTotal campaign in Paris.
Around 20 people erected a large wooden pipeline in front of the Chinese embassy in the French capital citing solidarity with affected communities in Uganda and Tanzania.
They called on China to “put people above profits”.
TotalEnergies told AFP it would not comment on the protests.
Actions also took place in Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa and Denmark.
In Uganda, 33 protestors were arrested, Tumusiime Kato, a lawyer representing campaigners against the project, told AFP.
In January, the firm launched a review of its land acquisition practices after aid groups and 26 individual Ugandans sued the oil giant in Paris for reparations over alleged human rights violations linked to the project.