Oil giant TotalEnergies has announced staggering first quarter profits of $6.5 billion to shareholders. The oil giant operates some of the largest fossil fuel projects on the planet, including the controversial East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop), which is planned to transport oil from western Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga.
Climate campaigners have described TotalEnergies’ staggering profits as a “moral bankruptcy and danger” posed by oil majors as they are “profiteering off the war in Ukraine” at a time when millions of people are suffering from the combined impacts of the climate crisis and rising cost of living.
Despite European governments calling for an end to fossil fuel expansion in the global South and the International Energy Agency demanding an end to new fossil fuel investments, TotalEnergies is currently leading a dash for gas in Africa. The oil major, which is also the principal developer of Uganda’s oil projects, recently secured billion-dollar deals in Algeria and South Africa to extract more fossil fuels from the continent.
in the midst of the climate crisis, campaigners said that TotalEnergies’ planned operations will be devastating for people and the planet as the oil giants’ actions seem to benefit a handful of wealthy shareholders at huge cost to local communities and the climate.
Zaki Mamdoo Coordinator of StopEACOP, a campaign against Uganda’s planned crude oil pipeline, said: “It is vital that we stop the flow of money to reckless fossil fuel companies like Total. TotalEnergies is truly heartless in its relentless profiteering on the African continent. The firm’s ever-growing profit margins are generated at the expense of our communities, the natural world, and an exploited African workforce. One of Total’s biggest projects on the continent, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), gives credence to this fact.
“Even before its construction, scores of project-affected persons and frontline activists have been made to endure violence, intimidation, forced removals, unfair compensatory processes, the desecration of cultural sites, and the loss of land and other income generating streams. The world is awakening to the realities of this damaging project and we are certain that it can be stopped if we stop the flow of finance to Total. As local and global momentum grows in opposition to EACOP, It is vital that we stop the flow of money to reckless fossil fuel companies like Total. We are appealing to all financial institutions to publicly distance themselves from this project and from all of Total’s destruction.”
Clémence Dubois, lobal campaigner at 350.org, a climate-focused nonprofit, said that it is politicians and decision-makers should not allow the fossil fuel industry to dictate the economic and political agenda for their own benefit. instead, he urged them to seize those billions to transition to affordable clean energy, warm homes, and climate security for all.
“TotalEnergies, the worst French multinational corporation in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, plans to use record profits to develop new oil and gas projects. This is unacceptable, as we are facing unprecedented heatwaves, fires, and flooding worldwide, while millions of households struggle with the cost of living crisis. The company’s upcoming AGM is a chance for them to celebrate their profits, but they should be prepared to face resistance from movements in France committed to blocking it as long as they continue their destructive path,” he said.
