East African Crude Oil Pipeline financing: Can Standard Bank’s climate claims survive scrutiny
Standard Bank cannot market itself as a champion of human rights and green progress while it bankrolls environmental destruction and community dispossession in east Africa. This matter is now before South Africa’s Advertising Regulatory Board.
Standard Bank faces accusations of greenwashing as it finances the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). The Standard Bank of South Africa has been marketing itself as a champion of human rights and sustainable progress, yet its financing of EACOP raises stark contradictions. The pipeline, spanning 1,443 kilometers, is set to displace over 100,000 people and devastate local ecosystems.
Despite Standard Bank’s claims of commitment to water conservation, biodiversity, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, it is simultaneously funding a project that will emit up to 372 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent over its 25-year lifespan, far surpassing the goals set by the Paris Agreement. Global financial institutions have distanced themselves from EACOP, citing its severe environmental and human rights impacts, yet Standard Bank persistently promotes its green initiatives.
This discrepancy between its public image and actual financing practices has prompted a formal complaint to South Africa’s Advertising Regulatory Board, alleging violations of advertising standards and misleading consumers about the bank's true values and actions.
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