Lawsuits Mount Against TotalEnergies Over Uganda Oil Projects

At least 26 Ugandans have filed a lawsuit against French oil firm TotalEnergies in Paris, France, seeking compensation for alleged human rights abuses at the company's huge megaprojects there. Two enormous TotalEnergies projects, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project, a 1,500km pipeline bringing crude oil to the Tanzanian coast through a number of protected nature reserves, and the Tilenga exploration of 419 oil wells, one-third of which are in Uganda's largest national park of Murchison Falls, are at the centre of their complaint before the Paris court.

Local environmentalists and experts believe the deforestation left local residents vulnerable and negatively affected about 4,000 people. Trees hugely reduce the likelihood of flooding by slowing and reducing surface run-off as well as by storing water. While more than 30 financial institutions around the word have officially announced that they will not support the project, the #StopEACOP campaign continues to target funders and possible financiers supporting the acceleration of the climate crisis by destroying biodiversity and protected areas in a process leading to human rights abuses.

This article originally appeared on All Africa.