The European Parliament has adopted a joint motion for a resolution on reported human rights abuses linked to fossil fuel projects in Uganda, one of which is the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) on which Standard Bank is a financial adviser.
The resolution denounces alleged human rights abuses and the environmental and climate risks posed by the EACOP and Tilenga projects being developed by French oil giant Total in Uganda and Tanzania. Details of the resolution posted on the European Parliament’s website this week argue that more than 100,000 people are at imminent risk of displacement from the EACOP project and calls for the international community to exert “maximum pressure” on Ugandan and Tanzanian authorities and those promoting the project.
The European Parliament’s stance is the latest blow to the controversial 1,443km pipeline, which involves oil groups CNOOC, TotalEnergies and Tullow, and will see Uganda’s crude oil transported to a port in Tanzania for export. Standard Bank, which has major banking operations in Uganda, is so far only acting as a financial adviser on the project, but has not ruled out financing it subject to an environmental report by Golder Associates, which Standard Bank said last month is still being reviewed by “internal experts”.
“Standard Bank says that it is still waiting for its independent social & environmental consultant’s report, and has previously told activists that preliminary studies indicated ‘no red flags’ on human rights violations and environmental harm,” Just Share executive director Tracey Davies told Business Day. “This resolution from the EU confirms beyond any doubt the findings of the many human rights organisations who have been trying to draw attention to these issues for years, putting Standard Bank in a very tricky position.”
Standard Bank has faced an avalanche of criticism over its role in the project with the activist #StopEACOP campaign last month calling it to come clean on whether it intends financing the pipeline. Standard Bank’s reputation management firm, Edelman, also announced last month it would part ways with the bank after the US-headquartered PR firm refused to do work on EACOP citing risks to its own reputation.
French NGO Les Amis de la Terre, or Friends of the Earth France, has already issued a statement praising the European Parliament’s stance on EACOP.
“We welcome the adoption of this resolution by the EU parliament: it sends a strong political message against the Tilenga and EACOP projects whose human, environmental and climate costs are undeniable and simply unacceptable,” Juliette Renaud, a senior campaigner at the NGO said in a statement on the group’s website. “This resolution echoes the increasing mobilisation of civil society in East Africa, in France and worldwide.”
Standard Bank said in response to questions from Business Day that it applies best-practice standards to assess environmental and social risk when considering its involvement in transactions. These include the Equator Principles and International Finance Corporation (IFC) performance standards, both of which specifically address issues related to human rights and land resettlement, the bank said.
“We receive regular briefings from NGOs in Uganda and Tanzania,” Standard Bank said via email. “In respect of any lending decision, we also interact with the client on environmental and social risks and include loan covenants related to performance on the managing these.”
Update: September 16 2022
This story has been updated with comment from Standard Bank.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.