French oil giant TotalEnergies is among 35 international companies excluded from investment by Sweden’s public pension fund AP7, a decision welcomed by Ugandan environmental activists opposing the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project.
AP7 said it had expanded the basis for excluding companies with high and difficult-to-assess sustainability risks, citing increasingly unpredictable, conflict-driven global developments.
‘For companies with significant climate impact, a stricter selection will mean that more companies are excluded and resources are concentrated on fewer companies with greater transition potential,’ AP7 said in a statement.
It added that the fund will gradually implement a broader framework for norm-based exclusions, initially focusing on human rights risks in conflict areas, before extending to labour rights, the environment and anti-corruption.
Johan Florén, AP7’s head of communications, said the fund needed additional tools to respond to complex risks.
‘We need more tools to manage risks that are becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. In addition, we want to be able to allocate more resources to the opportunities that exist,’ Florén said.
TotalEnergies, ranked 25th on the exclusion list and one of only two European firms named, was excluded on the basis of climate and environmental concerns, according to AP7.
While EACOP has not publicly commented on the matter, Uganda’s Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa has repeatedly said the pipeline is a priority project for the country and is proceeding as planned.
On Thursday, Ugandan environmental activists, who have protested against the EACOP project since 2022, described the move as long overdue.
‘We have for a long time pleaded with TotalEnergies to abandon the EACOP project which has a devastating environmental impact on society and caused cries to the ordinary people where it is being constructed, but they refused and instead ignored our calls and we think this is timely,’ said Yudah Kaye, chief mobiliser of Students Against EACOP Uganda.
Kaye said the continued detention of activists protesting the project underscored what he described as deeper flaws surrounding EACOP.
‘The continuous detention of our 11 members who were arrested in August while protesting at the head offices of Stanbic Bank is a clear testimony that indeed the project is lacking and needs to be stopped,’ he told Monitor.
TotalEnergies holds a 62 percent stake in the $5 billion (Shs18 trillion) EACOP project, a 1,443-kilometre pipeline designed to transport Uganda’s waxy crude oil from fields in the country’s mid-west to Tanzania’s Indian Ocean port of Tanga.
Other partners include Uganda National Oil Company (15 percent), China National Offshore Oil Corporation (8 percent) and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (15 percent) under EACOP Ltd.
The project has faced growing funding challenges after several international banks and insurers pulled out following sustained protests and criticism.
Human rights concerns
The AP7 announcement came hours after the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court further remanded 11 anti-EACOP activists to January 6, 2026, extending their detention to 155 days.
Lawyer Eva Kakuuma said the decision was communicated on December 16 by Magistrate Dan Mwesigwa, after the activists failed to appear for a bail hearing scheduled for December 15 or 16.
‘The attitude with which this case has been handled from its inception aims at frustrating the activists,’ Kakuuma said, adding that some had entered plea bargain agreements with prosecutors.
The activists were arrested on August 1 at Stanbic Bank headquarters, which they accuse of funding EACOP, and charged with common nuisance under the Penal Code Act.
Last month, Human Rights Watch condemned the prolonged detention, urging Ugandan authorities to respect the rights of environmental defenders.
‘Instead of harassing EACOP protestors, the Ugandan authorities should listen to these concerns and respect protesters’ rights to freedom of expression and assembly,’ said Agathe Bounfour, a senior researcher at HRW.