The East African Crude Oil Pipeline is being developed as part of a push to open oil fields around Uganda’s Lake Albert, on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to international markets by linking them with the port of Tanga in Tanzania. The pipeline, known as EACOP, is projected to require an added investment of 3.5 billion US dollars for a total of 1,443 kilometres, which would make it the longest heated pipeline in the world.

A coalition of African and international organisations have written to request that the African Development Bank (AfDB) reject a proposal to help fund the project. Civil society organisations have reportedly raised grave concerns over the project’s potentially damaging and irreparable environmental, climatic and social impact, describing the proposed pipeline as “exceptionally high-risk” in a letter dated the 19th of March to AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina.

Read more: Lifegate