Police use tear gas
Activists fail to block Total AGM
5/26/2023 1:52 p.m
Because of a gigantic oil project in Africa, climate protectionists are angry with the Total group and are trying to block its shareholders’ meeting. A few days earlier, activists boarded the Shell event. They probably bought extra shares for this.
Environmental activists protested against energy giant Total’s planned oil pipeline in East Africa ahead of its annual general meeting. The demonstrators tried to block access to the shareholders’ meeting building. As seen on TV, there were also clashes with the police, who eventually used tear gas to disperse the activists and prevent them from blockading the venue. Several hundred activists greeted arriving shareholders with shouts and whistles.
The Ugandan environmental activist Patience Nabukalu from Fridays for Future in Paris said they wanted to call on shareholders to stop financing fossil fuels and to get out of the pipeline project. “Total is a climate killer for us.” Climate activist Luisa Neubauer said to lenders: “Banks that even mention the word sustainability should fundamentally rule out financing this group.”
1443 km long pipeline
At the beginning of last year, the multi-billion dollar oil production project in Uganda and Tanzania was launched. Total holds the largest share in the project with around 57 percent. Also involved are the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) with a stake of around 28 percent and the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) with around 15 percent. According to Total, the investment volume totals around ten billion US dollars. The oil is to be transported in a new 1,443-kilometer pipeline from oil fields near Lake Albert in western Uganda through Tanzania to the Indian Ocean and shipped from the Tanzanian port of Tanga. A production volume of 230,000 barrels per day is expected. The first oil is to be exported as early as 2025.
Environmentalists have been calling for the project not to be funded for some time. They fear pollution of Ugandan lakes and the destruction of the habitats of rare animal species. According to Nabukalu, more than 10,000 people were already displaced for the project before the pipeline was built. Once operated, the project would also emit many times the annual emissions of Uganda: “It will only exacerbate the climate crisis in Africa.”
The Annual General Meeting nevertheless started as planned in the morning. However, participants and media people were not allowed to use their smartphones inside. CEO Patrick Pouyanné expressed his “regret” about the circumstances of the meeting. Last year, protesters prevented some shareholders from attending the general meeting, which Total wanted to avoid at all costs this time.
Activists also disrupt Shell gathering
Only on Tuesday at the annual general meeting of the oil and gas company Shell in London had climate activists demonstrated against the further exploitation of fossil fuels and delayed the meeting. Among other things, they shouted slogans like “Shut down Shell!” (“Shut up Shell!”), “Go to hell, Shell” (“Go to hell, Shell”) or “climate criminals”. Some tried to storm the stage. Dozens of demonstrators were taken out of the hall one by one by security personnel.
According to the PA news agency, the activists were Shell shareholders who had legally gained access to the general meeting. The protest began when shareholders were asked to vote on the company’s environmental plans. After all, about 20 percent voted for an alternative plan presented by climate protectionists from among the investors.