East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is set to devastate communities in Tanzania and Uganda

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is set to devastate communities in Tanzania and Uganda, and slice through some of the planet’s most precious natural parks.

Without insurance the project can’t go ahead but the project is struggling to find insurers willing to back it. Over 8 insurers have indicated the project is too toxic to insure.

However, a new report has revealed New York-based insurance brokerage Marsh, is doing all it can to make sure the project gets the insurance it needs. Last month, over 100 staff at Marsh actually spoke out against their company’s role in the project, saying the project would have “disastrous consequences” for the climate. Marsh’s leadership are furious and this Thursday are holding a meeting with its employees to discuss Marsh’s decision to support EACOP.

EACOP’s impact on nature and the ecosystems in the area will be catastrophic. The pipeline cuts through rivers and natural parks that are home to some of the largest populations of elephants, giraffes, lions and leopards in the world.

Nearly a third of the pipeline would run through the basin of Africa’s largest lake, Lake Victoria. One spill or leak could poison the water that 40 million people depend on for food, farming and their livelihoods.

But the project relies on multiple layers of insurance for its construction phase. And so far, Total Energies, the pipeline’s owners, have failed to find adequate insurance to move the project forward.

Last month a report by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism showed how Marsh has signed on to be the power broker for the pipeline – tasked with finding insurance wherever it can, despite growing pressure in the industry to avoid the climate-wrecking project.

Marsh is a key player, that’s why it’s imperative we stop them. And the good news, not only is Marsh’s own staff revolting against their leadership, demanding it walks away from the pipelines, but people power has already worked on Marsh before. Recently, they dropped the Adani Coal mine in Australia, succumbing to pressure.