Campaigners against a planned fossil fuel pipeline brought the voices of Africa to Manchester this morning as part of a protest outside Chubb Insurance offices in Manchester.
The activists were calling on the company to commit to not insuring the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
EACOP is planned to take oil from Uganda’s Lake Albert oilfield to the port of Tanga in Tanzania. Campaigners from Stop EACOP oppose the project because of the pipeline’s contribution to climate change, the effect on wildlife and the impact on local communities in Africa. They also question the financial viability of the scheme as the world moves away from fossil fuels. (1)
Protesters started to gather outside the Chubb Offices in Abbey House on Booth Street from 8AM this morning. As well as banners and placards, they brought recorded messages from people in East Africa affected by the pipeline.
Opposition to the pipeline has already resulted in 22 insurance companies (2) ruling out insuring EACOP and it is hoped that Chubb will make the same commitment. The project is already several years behind schedule.
Support for the protest came from campaigners in East Africa. Abduh Twaib Magambo from Stop EACOP Uganda said “EACOP is a climate bomb project fraught with perilous consequences including but not limited to, putting in danger the livelihoods of forty million people around Lake Victoria and putting in danger animal species in Queen Elizabeth national park.
These include elephants, zebras, giraffes and many more. The project has further gone an extra mile of putting people’s lives in danger due to displacements and threats from state.”
Local campaigner Martin Porter said
“The consequences of climate change are with us now and it’s only going to get worse. The seven hottest days of the last 100,000 years happened this summer resulting in heatwaves and floods around the world. Africa is the continent that has contributed least to climate change but it is set to suffer the most. Even the International Energy Agency has said the age of fossil fuels is over. Continuing with this pipeline is now madness. We hope Chubb Insurance agree and will pledge not to insure it.”
