French oil company Total and majority state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) are on the cusp of building the world’s longest heated oil pipeline right through the heart of Africa - with devastating environmental and social consequences. “Stretching for nearly 1,445 kilometers, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) would have disastrous consequences for local communities, for wildlife and for the entire planet,” StopEACOP, an alliance of dozens African and international NGOs says. “The project threatens to displace thousands of families and farmers from their land. It poses significant risks to water resources and wetlands in both Uganda and Tanzania – including the Lake Victoria basin, which over 40 million people rely upon for drinking water and food production,” it says. On the alliance’s website, the communities detail their experiences of wrongful displacement, income loss, militarization, and environmental degradation under this project, which is being forced upon them by CNOOC, Total, and their governments. The pipeline would rip through numerous sensitive biodiversity hotspots, and risk significantly degrading several nature reserves crucial to the preservation of threatened elephant, lion and chimpanzee species. And of course, burning more crude oil is the last thing our planet needs, the Alliance says. EACOP will increase the severity of the global climate emergency by transporting oil that will generate over 34 million tons of carbon emissions each year. The pipeline would open up critical ecosystems in the landlocked regions of Central and Eastern Africa to commercial oil exploitation. Building a massive crude oil pipeline in 2021 when the whole world is trying to urgently shift away from fossil fuels makes no sense – environmentally or economically. The people of Uganda and other neighboring countries in East and Central Africa shouldn’t be burdened with the money-losing and polluting industries of yesterday ­– they should have the same opportunities to embrace the clean renewable energy of the future and all the benefits that come with it. Economic strength will come from celebrating the area’s rich diversity, heritage and nature. Investing in sustainable industries like tourism and in reforestation programs will provide more jobs and better long-term security to local communities than the dying oil industry would. The future hangs in the balance, but as we’ve seen in so many cases around the world, when we unite to support local communities taking a stand for their rights and a better future, we can be a powerful match for any corporate giant. The video (6 min) is here: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=oj4F98NoezQ [https://yewtu.be/watch?v=oj4F98NoezQ] Or at tbe bottom of this page: https://www.stopeacop.net/why-stop-eacop [https://www.stopeacop.net/why-stop-eacop]