Scots Friends witness against pipeline
'The 1,443 km-long pipeline is being built by French oil giant Total and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation.'
Edinburgh Friends are supporting a Global Week of Action to prevent the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) from being insured.
The witness, led by Insure Our Future, is part of the STOP EACOP campaign which claims that a pipeline to carry electrically-heated crude oil through the heart of Africa will displace communities, endanger wildlife, increase carbon emissions and worsen the climate crisis. The 1,443 km-long pipeline is being built by French oil giant Total and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation.
Quaker David Somervell said that Edinburgh Quakers have already written to Barry Cook at Tokio Marine in London, an insurer targeted for the project, and are awaiting his reply. The letter asks the firm not to insure the project, in line with its policy on addressing environmental and social risks, adopted in March 2023. This excludes coal-fired power generation, thermal coal mining, oil sands and arctic oil and gas, it said.
The letter also mentions the International Energy Agency’s call two years ago that under a 1.5-degree scenario, there should be no new coal, oil or gas development.
Scottish Quakers will join the witness on 1 March, with Friends gathering at Glasgow Meeting House. London Friends joined people of faith on 26 February outside Lloyd’s of London for reflection and worship in the face of continuing climate breakdown.
