By Tom Sims, FRANKFURT Germany
Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE is not financing a pipeline in Africa that environmental campaigners have said will displace thousands of families and disrupt nature reserves, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Sunday.
Germany's largest lender has
come under pressure to clarify its stance on the financing of the planned $3.5
billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which would stretch more than
1,400 kilometres from Uganda to Tanzania.
Deutsche has so far not
commented on the project despite the pressure increasing ahead of the bank's
annual general meeting on Thursday. The environmental activist group 350.org is
organising a series of protests in the coming days.
"Many major banks and
insurers have already pulled out of this devastating project. We're raising the
pressure on Deutsche Bank, as one of the only major banks in Europe that has
not yet withdrawn their support for EACOP," 350.org has said ahead of the
planned protests.
The French energy giant
Total TTEF.PA, which is developing the pipeline with China National Offshore
Oil Corporation, has said it was taking steps to mitigate the environmental and
human impact of the project.
In recent years, Deutsche Bank
has marketed itself as a bank that companies can turn to as they transition to
a greener future.
"We have placed
sustainability at the core of our strategy," Chief Executive Officer
Christian Sewing said last year.
Deutsche Bank has never been
involved in the financing of the pipeline, said the person, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
Deutsche Bank said in a
statement that it doesn't comment on clients, but that it "supports the
transition to a low-carbon economy" and its policies prohibit it from
knowingly financing projects that clear primary forests, areas of high conservation
value and peatlands.
The campaign called #STOPEACOP says on its website
that the pipeline puts at risk water for millions of people, and will cut
through land critical for elephants, lions and chimpanzees. - Reuters
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