UGANDAN and Scottish climate activists joined forces today demanding the immediate halt of oil projects in their countries in a rally outside the Cop26 conference centre. 

The joint action called for the shut down of the Cambo oilfield in Scotland and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop), set to run from Uganda to Tanzania, as well as all new fossil fuel projects across the globe. 

The rally came after campaigners shone projections onto the British government building and JP Morgan Chase in Edinburgh on Wednesday night to draw attention to the two major oil projects as the climate summit draws to a close. 

Campaigners said they targeted the bank due to its investments in French and Chinese oil companies Total and CNOOC, which are leading the East Africa oil line — set to be the longest electrically heated pipeline in the world. 

Campaigners criticised world leaders for failing to include the phasing out of oil and gas in Wednesday’s draft agreement, warning they were “burying their heads in the ground.” 

Stop Eacop co-ordinator Omar Elmawi said: “It is clear that to avert the planetary crisis we need to transition towards a fossil free world and what better place to start than stopping the Eacop and Cambo projects?”
 
Stop Cambo campaigner Lauren MacDonald said actions against the two oil projects were part of the “same global fight.”

She said: “Governments have had all the warnings they need, yet time and time again they prove a severe lack of willingness to take climate action. We will not allow this any more.”

Drilling could begin on the new Cambo oilfield in the North Atlantic Ocean as early as next year. The field holds around 800 million barrels of crude oil.