Environmental activists from the group Just Stop Oil attacked the headquarters of TotalEnergies in London on Tuesday, spraying it with orange and black paint, in order to denounce a mega oil project by the French company in Uganda. Just Stop Oil explained in a press release that it had acted “in resistance to the company’s continued participation in human rights violations, in the context of the construction of the EACOP pipeline” (East African Crude Oil Pipeline).
The organization calls for the suspension of this colossal project, the longest heated oil pipeline in the world, over 1500 km, to the Tanzanian coast, crossing several protected natural areas. This megaproject has become emblematic of TotalEnergies’ controversial choice to continue investing in fossil fuels despite the climate crisis. He has also become a media symbol of the anti-oil struggle.
Twenty-six Ugandans and five French and Ugandan associations also launched a new legal action in France on Tuesday to seek “reparation” from TotalEnergies for the “damage” caused, according to them, by this project. Tens of thousands of people in Uganda and Tanzania are affected, according to them, by total or partial expropriations as a result of this project. For Just Stop Oil, “the project will release 379 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, or 25 times the combined annual emissions of Uganda and Tanzania”.
At 7am GMT, activists from Just Stop Oil entered the headquarters of TotalEnergies, located in the Canary Wharf area of London. They sprayed the reception with black paint. Others meanwhile threw orange paint on the exterior of the building. All sat outside the company’s headquarters until police arrived, who arrested 27 of the activists on “suspicion of criminal damage and aggravated trespassing”.
TotalEnergies told AFP “completely respect the right to demonstrate and freedom of expression, but deplore all forms of violence, whether verbal, physical or material”. TotalEnergies supports “transparent and constructive dialogue with all stakeholders”. The group Just Stop Oil, which calls for the cessation of all new oil and gas projects in the United Kingdom, is a regular in punchy actions. Since the end of April, he has also been organizing slow marches every day in the middle of London traffic, with the aim of causing as much disruption as possible to publicize their cause and put pressure on the government.
