The StopEACOP coalition has expressed concern over the issuance of a €1.5 billion bond for TotalEnergies by banks that had publicly distanced themselves from the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). The EACOP project has faced significant delays due to public pressure from coalition supporters and members who have highlighted the risks the project poses to financial institutions.
According to AtopEACOP, all the banks that have participated in the issuance of the bond are among the more than 40 global banks that refused to finance the controversial project.
Société Générale publicly distanced itself from EACOP in 2021 while HSBC, Intesa Sanpaolo, J.P. Morgan, and Mizuho made the announcement in 2022. BBVA made the announcement late last year (2025). Consequently, TotalEnergies and other project backers have struggled to raise funds and have been forced to look internally, as reported in the latest risk brief from BankTrack. The new €1.5 billion bond, therefore, provides them with internal funds to complete the project.
“These banks want the PR benefit of saying that they won’t finance EACOP while quietly keeping TotalEnergies liquid through bond purchases. That’s effectively back-door pipeline funding dressed up in sustainability language. Finance capital is doing what it always does by protecting returns first, then hiring glossy reports to wash the oil and blood from the balance sheet,” said StopEACOP Campaign Coordinator, Zaki Mamdoo.
He added that bonds are the most straightforward way for TotalEnergies to self-finance the project because they come with no strings attached and can be diverted to any projects that banks would not publicly support or associate with, including EACOP or the other highly controversial Mozambique LNG project, for which TotalEnergies is facing allegations of complicity in war crimes, torture, and enforced disappearances.
“The coalition cannot understand how these banks justify their involvement in issuing these bonds to TotalEnergies when they are aware that these funds could be diverted to projects they have publicly stated they do not support, citing reasons ranging from ‘extreme risks to communities’ along the pipeline route to ‘unacceptable risks’ to critical natural habitats, with a specific focus on human rights and climate impact?” Mamdoo stated.
“When Total makes internal loans available to EACOP Ltd., the money raised through these bonds becomes part of the machinery pushing this project forward. Communities lose land and livelihoods, repression deepens, ecosystems are put at risk, and the climate crisis accelerates, but bankers still collect their fees and coupons like it’s just another investment opportunity,” said Rachael Tugume, one of the EACOP project-affected-people from Hoima.
StopEACOP added: “As TotalEnergies, CNOOC, and host governments discuss plans for first oil by July 2026 – though this target is unlikely to be met – the impacts of the EACOP project are no longer hypothetical. Cases of human rights violations continue unabated. At the beginning of last year (2025), we witnessed the weaponisation of the Ugandan judiciary to suppress opposition to the project, as activists were denied bail and kept in jail for months.
“This began with the 11 activists arrested for protesting KCB Bank Uganda’s involvement in EACOP, who spent three months in jail, and now eight other activists associated with a student climate movement are still in jail for nearly seven months after protesting Stanbic Bank Uganda’s involvement in the EACOP project.
“Meanwhile, project-affected individuals with land grievances cannot find justice in court as their files go missing while the government forcibly evicts them.”
Diana Nabiruma of Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) said: “It is time banks walked the talk. They profess values such as respect for human rights, support for biodiversity conservation and being climate leaders among others. Despite this, they provide support to companies that do not espouse those values. They support companies that cause grievous harm to people and nature. This must stop!”
The coalition therefore condemns these banks for their actions that enable the controversial pipeline.
“They must recognise that, for every billion they help TotalEnergies raise, they greenlight ongoing harm and must bear equal responsibility for the risks EACOP poses to the people, climate, and environment.
“TotalEnergies’ ability to raise €1.5 billion with the assistance of banks that had opposed its fossil fuel expansion projects creates a crisis of public confidence in the banking sector and its commitment to climate policies and ESG standards. If banks truly oppose EACOP, they should not just refuse the headline project finance while continuing to fund the company building it. They must stop propping up TotalEnergies altogether. Anything less is hypocrisy in pursuit of quick profits that will haunt the whole world,” added the coalition.