Fresh impetus on EACOP implementation
TANZANIA Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) has welcomed the amendment of the resolutions on climate change by the Caribbean, Pacific-European Union Joint Parliamentary Assembly (CPAEU) which paves the way for smooth implementation of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline Project (EACOP).
“This is a huge win for the project, we have been making progress but with this ACPEU resolution we will double the progress,” the Managing Director of TPDC, Dr James Mataragio, told ‘Daily News’ on Thursday when responding to the new development.
Analysts have then described the amendment as a greenlight for construction of the 1,443-kilometre pipeline that will transport crude oil from Kabaale in Hoima District in Uganda to the Chongoleani Peninsula near Tanga port in Tanzania before it is shipped for refining abroad.
The amendment of the resolutions was made during the 42nd Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly which was held between October 29 and November 2, this year, in Maputo, Mozambique.
The CPA-EU Assembly, which brings together an equal number of elected MPs from the ACP states and members of the European Parliament on Wednesday made changes to “Operative Clause 5” of its resolution on the Global Challenges of Climate Change Cooperation for Adaptation and Migration.
The resolution, which was passed ahead of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled for November 18, 2022 in Egypt, initially called for a ban on all new oil exploration projects.
It read in part, “…achieving the 1.5 centigrade target, requires that no new oil gases fields be approved, nor any new coal mine or extensions to existing ones.”
However, in the CPA-EU session held in Maputo, Mozambique, the MPs from around the world voted to make changes in the resolution, to allow a global “just transition” to renewable energy.
The parliament in the new amendment as such “acknowledged the importance of fair phase out and gradual transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, stressing that achieving the 1.5 centigrade target requires the drastic scaling up of renewable energy and supporting a global just transition.”
The amendment was tabled on the floor by the Deputy Speaker of Tanzania’s National Assembly, Mr Musa Azzan and Mr Edmund Hinkson of Barbados.
“This is a big win for EACOP as the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Maputo adopts an amendment that allows us to explore our oil and gas industry. “We committed to do this in a responsible and sustainable way but also invest more in renewables,” Uganda’s Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Mr Thomas Tayebwa, tweeted on his official account.
Adding; “I want to thank the Deputy Speaker of Tanzania (Mr Azzan) and Mr Hinkson of Barbados who sponsored the resolution on our behalf, Gladys Jepkosgei Shollei (Deputy Speaker of the Kenya National Assembly) for the support.”
The development comes two months after the European Union Parliament passed a resolution to say that there are so many human rights violations, environmental issues and lack of compensation to people affected by the pipeline works. However, both Tanzania and Uganda blasted the EU Parliament over the call to have the project suspended.
TotalEnergies, the architect of the project had also rejected complaints about Lake Albert and its environmental impact. The project is essential, it said, because of the world’s ongoing need for hydrocarbons.
TotalEnergies’ partner on the project, CNOOC Uganda, also defended the project, stating that; “We are committed to delivering first oil from Uganda and there’s no turning back.” The ACP-EU resolution now waters down an earlier stance by the European Parliament that had expressed “grave concern” around alleged human rights violations in Tanzania and Uganda linked to the Lake Albert project.
Mr Malte Lenz Gallée, a member of the European Parliament who was also part of a four-member EU Parliamentarians team that visited Uganda at the end of July 2022 on a fact-finding mission accepted the outcome of the ACP-EU vote.
“The amendment by Barbados and Tanzania was carried and now we have a less resolution addressing the needs of the future generations. We lost it,” said Gallée who fights for climate protection and for a sustainable industry.
