Nearly 2,000 square km of protected wildlife habitats could be negatively impacted by the EACOP project. The potential loss of forest due to the EACOP is particularly problematic considering Uganda is losing over 70k ha of tree cover and 4k ha of primary forest per year. The map on the right identifies areas with high importance in terms of global biodiversity and areas recognized as priority conservation targets in prior commitments by both Uganda and Tanzania under the Convention of Biodiversity (CBD) and other conservation mechanisms. This ecologically unique region encompasses two major biodiversity hotspots, seven globally important ecoregions and at least sixteen protected areas of which many are classified as Key Biodiversity Areas. The impacts and risks to biodiversity can split into direct risks of habitat and biodiversity loss as well as indirect risks, primarily posed by potential pipeline and extraction site oil spills. Besides its significant contribution to the global climate crisis, the EACOP project would open a new frontier of high-risk development in neighboring areas. The project itself will require large amounts of energy to heat the pipeline and transport the oil, while additional emissions due to land use change and associated deforestation are likely. Development of this oil resource is projected result in emission of least 33 million tonnes of carbondioxide per year, amounting to over thirty times the current annual emissions of Uganda and Tanzania combined. To illustrate these broad ranging impacts, we performed a spatial overlay of the planned pipeline trajectory and:Ī primary issue with this project and any planned future fossil fuel development is the lock-in to additional emissions which the planet cannot tolerate. This map story aims to provide a general summary of the potential environmental impacts and risks that this project could pose to local communities. With this project, various international commitments made are put in jeopardy, including the Paris Climate Agreement, the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and the Ramsar Wetland Convention. The planned East African Crude Oil Pipeline ( EACOP) project and its associated infrastructure is bound to trigger a large suite of environmental social and human rights issues and risks non-compliance with several global and regional agreements as well as net-zero-emission targets set by the countries involved. The development would also include several processing facilities, and a refinery. The oil fields in Uganda consisting of more than 400 oil wells would be operated by China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd (CNOOC Ltd), and TotalEnergies of France. A planned 1,443 km long heated pipeline would transport oil from the Tilenga and Kingfisher fields on the shores of Lake Albert in Uganda, to the port of Tanga in on the Indian Ocean coast in Tanzania. 6.5 billion barrels of oil, of which at least 1.7 billion are projected to be recoverable have been discovered in the Albertine Graben on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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