The Deutsche Bank is not financing a pipeline in Africa that environmentalists claim will disrupt thousands of families and disrupt nature reserves, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Sunday.
Germany's largest lender is under pressure to clarify its stance on the financing of the planned $3.5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline EACOP, which would stretch more than 1,400 kilometres from Uganda to Tanzania.
Deutsche hasn't commented on the project despite the pressure on the bank ahead of the bank's annual general meeting on Thursday. The environmental activist group 350.org is organising a series of protests in the coming days.
Many major banks and insurers have pulled out of this devastating project. We're raising the pressure on Deutsche Bank, one of the only major banks in Europe that have not yet withdrawn support for EACOP, 350.org has said ahead of the planned protests.
The French energy giant Total, which is developing the pipeline with China National Offshore Oil Corporation, said it was taking steps to mitigate the environmental and human impact of the project.
Deutsche Bank has marketed itself as a bank that companies can turn to when transitioning to a greener future.
Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing said last year that we have placed sustainability at the heart of our strategy.
The person, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Deutsche Bank has never been involved in the financing of the pipeline.
Deutsche Bank does not comment on clients, but it supports the transition to a low-carbon economy and its policies prohibits it from financing projects that clear primary forests, areas of high conservation value and peatlands.
The campaign called STOPEACOP was called www.stopeacop. Net home says the pipeline puts at risk water for millions of people and will cut through land critical for elephants, lions and chimpanzees.