The completion and operation of the controversial proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline will result in more than 25 times the climate pollution of the two countries through which it would run, according to a new analysis by the Climate Accountability Institute. The pipeline would transport oil extracted from a national park in Uganda more than 870 miles to a Tanzanian port for export.

The EACOP, backed by French oil major TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, has struggled to secure financial backing, with 24 banks and 18 insurance companies refusing to underwrite the project.

The exploitation of African fossil fuels will likely be a key point of contention at the upcoming COP27. “Big oil and gas companies are pretending that we need new fossil fuel development in Africa to lift people out of energy poverty,” Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate said at the Trust Conference on Thursday. But rich nations and fossil fuel companies seeking to extract new resources from Africa do not have Africans’ best interests at heart, she said. “I want to be clear about this: big oil and gas companies have been promising to lift people out of energy poverty for decades. It’s a lie. … The pipelines and power lines from coal and oil and gas plants will never reach those who live at the last mile and these corporations know this.” (EACOP emissions: The Guardian; Nakate: Context; New extraction: New York Times $)