Climate activist Aly Tharp, on Wednesday, interrupted a plenary session hosted by the CEO of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, during the CERAWeek Conference in Houston, Texas, USA.
At the conference, Ms Tharp stood on a chair, raised a banner that read “STOP EACOP & RIO GRANDE LNG,” and declared: “In love and solidarity with the people of East Africa and across Texas, Louisiana and the entire world being poisoned by TotalEnergies and other companies in this room – we must end the era of fossil fuels!”
Ms Tharp, who works for GreenFaith, a grassroots, multifaith organization that promotes climate justice, criticized TotalEnergies for allegedly making the climate crisis worse by funding fossil fuel projects. She added that this has also led to more human suffering and biodiversity loss in the Global South.
Read Also: Study: Smoke from Australian bushfires depleted ozone layer by up to 5% in 2020
In her words, “I am acting today because my faith as a Unitarian Universalist calls me to act for justice and the protection of life and future generations, in solidarity with communities most affected. From Texas to Tanzania and Uganda, TotalEnergies is causing tremendous harm.”
She was referring to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project, in which TotalEnergies holds a 62% share and is the major stakeholder.
GreenFaith has consistently condemned TotalEnergies and other such investors’ focus on fossil fuel projects in the Global South, calling it re-colonisation, since the oil is sold offshore and the economic growth, jobs and other benefits promised to the host countries are never delivered, making oil more of a curse than a blessing.
Story was adapted from Enviro News
