Berlin, March 15.03.2024, 11, 56:20.03.2024 a.m. - On Wednesday, March 10, XNUMX at XNUMX a.m., the Last Generation, together with climate activists from the groups Students against EACOP and EndFossil from Uganda, will stage a protest against the planned construction of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP ) at the Embassy of the Republic of Uganda.
The construction of the EACOP is a 1443 km. long mega-project that the governments of Uganda and Tanzania are pushing forward together with the oil companies TotalEnergies (France) and China National Offshore Oil Corporation. If it goes ahead, it will mean the direct displacement of more than 120,000 people – entire villages – in the pipeline area. In addition, more than 200 water bodies and numerous biodiversity hotspots, such as the Murchison Falls National Park, the Queen Elizabeth National Park and the Kabalega Game Reserve, are directly affected. Overall, the project endangers the lives of millions of people in Uganda and the entire East African region through displacement, land loss and expected environmental damage[1]. It needs to be stopped urgently!
'Students against EACOP' and 'EndFossil Uganda' have been protesting peacefully against the construction of the pipeline for years, but have been subjected to extreme repression by the Ugandan government. Alphonse Nkurunziza, part of the group 'Students against EACOP', on this: “Many of the environmental activists, including some students, who are part of our campaign were severely mistreated, detained and sent to prison for weeks, especially in the Luziira maximum security prison. All because they staged peaceful protests in front of the Ugandan Parliament, TotalEnergies headquarters, the European Union Embassy and other locations. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Human Rights Watch and Global Witness have documented these human rights violations against the protesting students and have since condemned their violent detention and called for a halt to plans to build the EACOP. Now it's about taking this protest to Europe, where TotalEnergies, one of the leading oil companies behind this project, is based. The EU must face its responsibility to stop this project!"
Wednesday's protest is intended to be the start of further demonstrations, including at the TotalEnergies office in Germany. The Bundestag members Kathrin Henneberger, Bernhard Herrmann, Max Lucks, Susanne Menge, Boris Mijatovic and Karoline Otte (all Alliance 90/The Greens) also spoke out in favor of an immediate stop to the pipeline in a letter to Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of TotalEnergies. You are on the side of our protest!
Activist Nicholas Omonuk, from 'EndFossil Uganda': “In times of worsening climate catastrophe, a deadly pipeline must not be built in Uganda, from which the rich countries of the Global North primarily benefit through their energy companies and consumption habits, while millions of people in East Africa are not only negatively affected by the direct consequences of the pipeline, but also are also suffering the most from the climate crisis. This huge injustice must stop!"