Press Release
Paris, 19 May, 2022 – TotalEnergies’ EACOP (East African Crude Oil Pipeline) project may find insurance support from broker Marsh McLennan. The Financial Times (1) has just revealed that the American leader has taken on this role despite protests from its employees. This project, planned between Uganda and Tanzania, is a “climate bomb” developed against the scientific recommendations of the IEA to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Reclaim Finance condemns Marsh’s support for the EACOP project and calls on financial actors opposed to EACOP to sanction TotalEnergies, starting with voting against its flawed climate plan on May 25.
The development of EACOP, this 1,400 km long heated pipeline, would produce more than 34 million tons of CO2 every year, destroy the biodiversity of these regions and displace more than 100,000 people. This is inconsistent with the climate warnings issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the clear recommendations of the International Energy Agency (IEA): there is no room for new oil and gas projects to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
EACOP is not the first controversial fossil fuel project in which Marsh is involved. The American broker has also been directly involved in the Trans Mountain Pipeline (2) and the Carmichael coal mine mega-project led by Adani in Australia. Reclaim Finance condemns Marsh’s support for the EACOP project:
“While the insurance industry is best placed to lead the climate battle, broker Marsh is determined to profit as long as possible from fossil fuels, even if it means supporting the most polluting projects, be it coal mines, oil sands and now with the EACOP project” comments Ariel Le Bourdonnec, campaigner at Reclaim Finance.
20 banks (3) and more than 8 insurers have already announced that they will not support the project, including French AXA, SCOR but also Munich Re, Zurich, Allianz, AXA, SCOR, Swiss Re, Hannover Re. The four main European export credit agencies (France, Germany, UK and Italy) have also announced that they will not support the project.
While many French financial players have pledged not to support the EACOP project directly, they continue to finance and invest in the company on the markets. They are therefore indirectly supporting the development of the company’s new oil and gas projects such as EACOP, which would not be possible without the support of TotalEnergies’ financiers. In April, French banks played a leading role in the largest loan operation targeting TotalEnergies since the Paris Agreement (4). TotalEnergies’ major investors – AXA, BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole/Amundi – have yet to announce whether they will vote against Total’s flawed climate plan at next week’s AGM.
“Time is of the essence as TotalEnergies joins forces with the worst fossil fuel advocates such as Marsh to advance its project. It is urgent that the financial actors sincerely opposed to the EACOP project suspend new financial services and support until the major gives up on its toxic oil and gas expansion plans. Starting by announcing that they will vote against TotalEnergies’ false climate plan on May 25” concludes Lucie Pinson, Director of Reclaim Finance.
Ahead of TotalEnergies’ AGM, mobilization against the EACOP project is gaining momentum. Environmental and human rights NGOs, climate activists, politicians and other representatives of civil society are calling on TotalEnergies’ shareholders to vote against the company’s flawed climate plan, particularly in protest of EACOP and other oil and gas expansion projects developed by the French company. The EACOP project is also the reason given yesterday by Meeschaert, one of TotalEnergies’ lead investors, to motivate its vote against Total’s climate plan (5).