Right Livelihood delivered a statement at the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva outlining the responsibilities of investors in upholding human rights related to business operations. Focusing on the situation in Uganda, where 2022 Laureate Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) is mobilising communities against the humanitarian and environmental disaster caused by the French company Total Energies’ East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) and Tilenga oil projects, we called on Member States to place people over profits.
You can read the full statement here.
Since the planning of EACOP and Tilenga oil projects began, over 120,000 people have been displaced from their homes. While French company TotalEnergies is both projects’ primary operator, the pipeline project follows Uganda’s tendency to prioritise oil and gas development over its citizens’ well-being.
“Local communities face severe disruptions to their livelihoods, inadequate compensation and heightened risks to their health due to environmental degradation,” we said in the statement.
Multiple actors are responsible for the damage caused by EACOP, we told the Council. Namely, the Ugandan government for allowing the project to harm its citizens, the French government for overlooking TotalEnergies’ due-diligence violations and, of course, TotalEnergies for disregarding human rights since the projects’ inception.
“It is imperative that Uganda, the transnational corporations engaged in the oil projects, and their home countries place human rights at the centre of their decision making,” we told the Council.
However, the communities in the pipeline’s path are not the only people harmed by oil projects. Peaceful protesters who have amplified local communities’ concerns have been subjected to government raids, arbitrary arrests and harassment.
“The Council cannot remain passive in the face of these blatant violations,” we said.
We will continue to put pressure on the Council, its Members and investors to uphold human rights, especially in the context of extractive activities like EACOP.
You can read more about the impact of the Tilenga oil project in AFIEGO’s latest research brief.
