Insurance Provider Chubb Ruled out Insuring East African Crude Oil Pipeline
WASHINGTON — International insurance giant Chubb ruled out insuring the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), according to Nigerian based EnviroNews. Chubb, one of the world’s largest fossil fuel insurers, is the 30th major global insurer to refuse to cover EACOP, joining the ranks of over 40 banks who have also rejected financing the pipeline project. The proposed pipeline would transport oil produced from the oilfields near Uganda’s Lake Albert to the port of Tanga in Tanzania and has faced international protests aimed at denying financing and insurance to the project spearheaded by the Stop EACOP campaign.
In response, Rick Morris, insurance campaigner with Public Citizen’s Climate Program, issued the following statement:
“Insurance giants like Chubb are key financiers of new oil and gas infrastructure like EACOP. We applaud Chubb for refusing to insure this project. In solidarity with the people on the frontlines of Uganda and the oil and gas build-out along the US Gulf Coast, we call on insurance majors like AIG, Liberty Mutual, and Tokio Marine to rule out support of EACOP and all fossil fuel infrastructure.
“Oil pipelines—and all polluting fossil fuel infrastructure—destroy the health, livelihoods, and heritage of frontline communities. The cost of insurers ignoring frontline communities is already being paid by working people as insurance companies abandon entire states and spike home insurance premiums throughout the US. The effects of climate change are here and are only going to grow more costly. We desperately need insurers to put the lives of frontline communities, working people, and future generations over short-term profits from fossil fuels.”
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