Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Insurance declined or withdrawn · Uganda / Tanzania · 2021–2026

EACOP pipeline: insurers decline, construction continues

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured. Disputed
What the record lacks: 6 none on record · 4 insufficient · 1 not measured · 7 disputed · 13 unclear See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Why did Chubb rule out the pipeline?
  • Communities and civil society Public Citizen: Reported that Chubb ruled out insuring the pipeline and was the 30th major global insurer to refuse cover; campaigners tie this to Chubb's conservation policy. Public Citizen
  • Company or project Chubb: Its 22 March 2023 standards say it will not underwrite oil and gas extraction projects in protected areas in IUCN categories I–V. No project-specific statement on EACOP is on record. Chubb

Campaign groups counted about 30 insurers and reinsurers that publicly ruled out covering the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. Uganda's insurance regulator said a local consortium insures it, and by September 2026 about 98% of the line was reported built.

30 · 98%Insurers that ruled it out vs pipeline built
Campaign count, April 2025 (trackers count differently); 1,414 of 1,443 km completed and buried by September 2026.

Status As of September 2026: campaign tallies count 30 insurers that declined (April 2025); 1,414 of 1,443 km were reported completed and buried; first oil was moved to June 2027; no insurer-confirmed list of current insurers is on record.

What?
About 30 insurers and reinsurers publicly ruled out covering the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, a line of about 1,443 km from Uganda through Tanzania. Uganda's insurance regulator said a local consortium insures it, and by September 2026, 1,414 km had been completed and buried. AllAfrica
Where?
Uganda and Tanzania, along a pipeline of about 1,443 km; protests and arrests in Kampala.
When?
Refusals from 2021 (Swiss Re, AXA, Zurich); Hannover Re on 28 March 2022; Britam on 27 November 2022; 28 insurers by 5 February 2024 and 30 with Chubb on 18 April 2025. Financing closed 26 March 2025; 1,414 of 1,443 km built by September 2026, first oil moved to June 2027.
Who?
Gained
  • Insurance Consortium for Oil and Gas in Uganda (ICOGU) — Insures the pipeline, according to Uganda's insurance regulator (2022); not confirmed by any insurer The Independent (Uganda)
  • Uganda Re, ZEP-Re and Africa Re — Offered up to 30% of the pipeline's risk under the EACOP (Special Provisions) Act 2021; participation not confirmed Dialogue Earth
  • Marsh — Reported by the Financial Times in 2022 to be arranging the insurance; Marsh does not confirm clients Business Insurance
  • TotalEnergies (62%), UNOC (15%), TPDC (15%) and CNOOC (8%) — Shareholders in a pipeline 98% built by September 2026, with first oil expected in June 2027 EACOP Ltd
  • Afreximbank, Standard Bank, Stanbic Uganda, KCB Uganda and ICD — Lenders in the first external financing tranche, closed on 26 March 2025 (amount not confirmed) EACOP Ltd
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Students protesting against the pipeline in Kampala — Arrested: 47 in August 2024 (FIDH counts 72 people nationwide that month), 15 in November 2024 and 12 outside Stanbic's head office in August 2025 FIDH
  • An activist — Abducted for six days in June 2024 FIDH
Why?
Hannover Re said it would not reinsure EACOP 'due to noncompliance with our ESG expectations'; Britam's internal assessment found the project 'violated its backers' policies and performance standards'. Chubb made no project-specific statement; campaigners link its refusal to its 2023 policy against oil and gas extraction in IUCN category I–V protected areas. Reinsurance News
How?
As international insurers ruled the project out, Uganda's 2021 EACOP Act offered local reinsurers up to 30% of the risk, the regulator said a local consortium held the cover, and Marsh was reported to be arranging it. Construction continued with lender financing from March 2025. Dialogue Earth
In proportion About 30 insurers ruled the pipeline out; 1,414 of its 1,443 km (98%) were completed and buried by September 2026. AllAfrica
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) runs about 1,443 km from Uganda through Tanzania. Its shareholders are TotalEnergies (62%), the Uganda National Oil Company (15%), the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (15%) and CNOOC (8%).

Swiss Re, AXA, Zurich and SCOR publicly ruled out cover before March 2022. On 28 March 2022 Hannover Re said it would not provide reinsurance "due to noncompliance with our ESG expectations"; it said EACOP had been on its exclusion list for about a year, and Reinsurance News counted it as the fifth to rule out the project. Allianz (counted as the seventh) and Munich Re followed in April 2022. In November 2022 the Kenyan insurer Britam withdrew; its internal environmental and social assessment found the project violated its backers' policies and performance standards, which came out through the complaint process of the IFC's Compliance Advisor Ombudsman.

By February 2024 the campaign count reached 28, with SiriusPoint, Riverstone International, Enstar, Blenheim and SA Meacock the newest. AIG, Tokio Marine, Chaucer and Hiscox were still named as willing. On 18 April 2025 Chubb became the 30th insurer counted as refusing. No 31st was found as of October 2026.

In May 2022 the Financial Times reported that the broker Marsh was arranging the insurance; Marsh declined to comment, citing its long-standing policy of not confirming the identity of clients, and an OECD complaint was filed against it in February 2023. In August 2022 Uganda's insurance regulator said the pipeline is insured by the Insurance Consortium for Oil and Gas in Uganda (ICOGU). StopEACOP disputes that this cover is complete. The EACOP (Special Provisions) Act 2021 offers local reinsurers up to 30% of the risk.

The first external financing tranche closed on 26 March 2025 with Afreximbank, Standard Bank, Stanbic Uganda, KCB Uganda and ICD. Students protesting against the pipeline were arrested in Kampala in August and November 2024 and outside Stanbic's head office in August 2025. In September 2026, 1,414 of 1,443 km were completed and buried; first oil was moved to June 2027.

  1. 2021Swiss Re, AXA and Zurich refuse cover; Hannover Re places EACOP on its exclusion list (about a year before March 2022); EACOP (Special Provisions) Act offers local reinsurers up to 30% of the risk
  2. 2022Hannover Re rules it out (28 Mar); Allianz and Munich Re (Apr); Marsh reported as broker (May); regulator says local consortium insures it (21 Aug); about 11 insurers out (Aug); Britam withdraws (27 Nov)
  3. 2023OECD complaint against Marsh (Feb); Chubb adopts protected-area extraction policy (22 Mar)
  4. 2024Campaign count reaches 28 (5 Feb); activist abducted for 6 days (Jun); 47 students arrested (9 Aug); 21 people arrested, 20 charged with common nuisance (26 Aug); 15 arrested (Nov)
  5. 2025First external financing tranche closes (26 Mar); Chubb counted as 30th insurer to refuse (18 Apr); 12 arrested outside Stanbic (Aug)
  6. 2026About 90–91% complete (mid-year); 1,414 of 1,443 km built (Sep); first oil moved to June 2027

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“We refrain from providing reinsurance coverage for EACOP due to noncompliance with our ESG expectations.”

“violated its backers' policies and performance standards”

Britam internal environmental and social assessment, as reported by the Monitor · November 2022 · Monitor (Uganda)

“We have policies on the pipeline, on Tilenga, on Kingfisher.”

“does not underwrite the Eacop project directly or indirectly, and nor does it intend to”

Riverstone International, as reported by the Monitor · February 2024 · Monitor (Uganda)

“not participating in the Eacop tender”

“30th major global insurer to refuse to cover EACOP”

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Is the pipeline insured?
Government and regulators
Insurance Regulatory Authority, Uganda

"We have policies on the pipeline, on Tilenga, on Kingfisher." The Insurance Consortium for Oil and Gas in Uganda insures it.

The Independent (Uganda)
Communities and civil society
StopEACOP

Disputes that the cover is complete.

The Independent (Uganda)
Company or project
Marsh

Declined to comment, citing its policy of not confirming clients.

Business Insurance
Did Marsh break OECD guidelines by acting as broker for EACOP?
Communities and civil society
Complainants in the February 2023 OECD complaint

Alleged that Marsh was violating OECD guidelines by serving as insurance broker for EACOP.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Company or project
Marsh

Declined to comment, citing its long-standing policy of not confirming the identity of clients.

Business Insurance
Why did Chubb rule out the pipeline?
Communities and civil society
Public Citizen

Reported that Chubb ruled out insuring the pipeline and was the 30th major global insurer to refuse cover; campaigners tie this to Chubb's conservation policy.

Public Citizen
Company or project
Chubb

Its 22 March 2023 standards say it will not underwrite oil and gas extraction projects in protected areas in IUCN categories I–V. No project-specific statement on EACOP is on record.

Chubb
Did the refusals matter for the project?
Communities and civil society
Campaign groups

Count 30 insurers that refused cover.

Public Citizen
Government and regulators
Insurance Regulatory Authority, Uganda

A local consortium insures the pipeline; local reinsurers may take up to 30% of the risk.

The Independent (Uganda)

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • About 30 insurers have refused to cover the pipeline (a running count)
    Campaign groups including StopEACOP and Public Citizen · Public Citizen
  • The pipeline is locally insured, by the Insurance Consortium for Oil and Gas in Uganda
    Uganda's Insurance Regulatory Authority · The Independent (Uganda)

Recorded

  • 1,414 of 1,443 km were completed and buried by September 2026.
    AllAfrica
  • The first external financing tranche closed on 26 March 2025.
    EACOP Ltd
  • Hannover Re said EACOP had been on its exclusion list for about a year before 28 March 2022.
    Reinsurance News
  • Chubb's underwriting standard of 22 March 2023 states it will not underwrite oil and gas extraction projects in protected areas in IUCN categories I–V; campaigners tied this to its EACOP refusal.
    Chubb
  • AIG, Tokio Marine, Chaucer and Hiscox were named in February 2024 as insurers still willing to cover the pipeline.
    Monitor (Uganda)
  • The EACOP (Special Provisions) Act 2021 offers local reinsurers (Uganda Re, ZEP-Re, Africa Re) up to 30% of the risk.
    Dialogue Earth
  • No insurer has confirmed a list of the current insurers or reinsurers of the pipeline.

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
First external financing tranche (Afreximbank, Standard Bank, Stanbic Uganda, KCB Uganda, ICD)—
Amount not confirmed in the source record.
Currency: USD · Window: 2021–2026. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • hannover-re (28 March 2022): "We refrain from providing reinsurance coverage for EACOP due to noncompliance with our ESG expectations." · Reinsurance News
  • marsh (2022–2023): Declined to comment, "citing its long-standing policy of not confirming the identity of clients." · Business Insurance
  • riverstone (February 2024): "does not underwrite the Eacop project directly or indirectly, and nor does it intend to." · Monitor (Uganda)
  • siriuspoint (February 2024): "not participating in the Eacop tender." · Monitor (Uganda)
  • ira-uganda (21 August 2022): The pipeline is insured by the Insurance Consortium for Oil and Gas in Uganda. · The Independent (Uganda)

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2023–Outcome not on record
    OECD complaint against Marsh over EACOP brokerage
    OECD National Contact Point process (complaint filed February 2023) · International court · Climate campaigners (not named in the sources reviewed) → Marsh

    The complaint alleges that Marsh violates OECD guidelines by serving as insurance broker for EACOP. Marsh declined to comment. No outcome is on record. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

  2. 2021–2021Outcome not on record
    EACOP (Special Provisions) Act 2021
    Parliament of Uganda · Regulatory · Government of Uganda →

    The law offers local reinsurers (Uganda Re, ZEP-Re, Africa Re) up to 30% of the pipeline's risk. Dialogue Earth

  3. 2024-08–Outcome not on record
    Charges against students protesting EACOP in Kampala
    Court in Uganda (not named in the sources reviewed) · Criminal · State → Student protesters

    On 26 August 2024, 21 people were arrested; 20 were charged with common nuisance and remanded to Luzira prison, and were bailed on 6 September. 47 students had been arrested and released on 9 August 2024. No verdict is on record in the sources reviewed.

Insurers

  1. 2021Cover declined
    Swiss Re → EACOP

    Publicly ruled out cover before March 2022 (reported as 2021). Reinsurance News

  2. 2021Cover declined
    AXA → EACOP

    Publicly ruled out cover before March 2022 (reported as 2021). Reinsurance News

  3. 2021Cover declined
    Zurich → EACOP

    Publicly ruled out cover before March 2022 (reported as 2021). Reinsurance News

  4. Cover declined
    SCOR → EACOP

    Publicly ruled out cover before March 2022. Reinsurance News

  5. 2022Cover declined
    Hannover Re → EACOP
    Stated reason: "noncompliance with our ESG expectations"; EACOP had been on its exclusion list for about a year

    Became the fifth (re)insurer to rule out EACOP on 28 March 2022. Reinsurance News

  6. 2022Cover declined
    Allianz → EACOP

    Ruled out EACOP in April 2022, counted as the seventh insurer. Insure Our Future

  7. 2022Cover declined
    Munich Re → EACOP

    Rejected EACOP in April 2022. StopEACOP

  8. 2022Cover declined
    Britam → EACOP
    Stated reason: Internal environmental and social assessment found the project "violated its backers' policies and performance standards"

    The Kenyan insurer, an IFC client, withdrew on 27 November 2022; the assessment came out through the IFC's complaint process. Monitor (Uganda)

  9. 2024Cover declined
    SiriusPoint → EACOP

    Said it was "not participating in the Eacop tender"; among the newest refusals counted by February 2024. Monitor (Uganda)

  10. 2024Cover declined
    Riverstone International → EACOP

    Said it does not underwrite the project directly or indirectly and does not intend to. Monitor (Uganda)

  11. 2024Cover declined
    Enstar → EACOP

    Among the newest refusals counted by February 2024. Monitor (Uganda)

  12. 2024Cover declined
    Blenheim → EACOP

    Among the newest refusals counted by February 2024. Monitor (Uganda)

  13. 2024Cover declined
    SA Meacock → EACOP

    Among the newest refusals counted by February 2024. Monitor (Uganda)

  14. Cover declined
    Arch → EACOP

    Ruled out EACOP after campaign pressure. Insure Our Future

  15. Cover declined
    AEGIS London → EACOP

    Ruled out EACOP after campaign pressure. Insure Our Future

  16. 2025Cover declined
    Chubb → EACOP
    Stated reason: No project-specific statement found; campaigners link it to Chubb's 2023 policy against oil and gas extraction in IUCN category I–V protected areas

    Counted on 18 April 2025 as the 30th major insurer to refuse; it had been listed as a holdout in 2024. Public Citizen

  17. 2024No policy found
    AIG → EACOP

    Named in February 2024 as still willing to insure, and by campaigners in April 2025; no statement from AIG found. Monitor (Uganda)

  18. 2024No policy found
    Tokio Marine → EACOP

    Named in February 2024 as still willing to insure, and by campaigners in April 2025; no statement found. Monitor (Uganda)

  19. 2024No policy found
    Chaucer → EACOP

    Named in February 2024 as still willing to insure, and by campaigners in April 2025; no statement found. Monitor (Uganda)

  20. 2024No policy found
    Hiscox → EACOP

    Named in February 2024 as still willing to insure; no statement found. Monitor (Uganda)

  21. 2025No policy found
    Liberty Mutual → EACOP

    Named by campaigners in April 2025 among insurers that had not ruled it out. Public Citizen

  22. 2025No policy found
    Brit → EACOP

    Named by campaigners in April 2025 among insurers that had not ruled it out. Public Citizen

  23. No policy found
    Beazley → EACOP

    Listed by campaigners as a holdout. Insure Our Future

  24. 2022No policy found
    Insurance Consortium for Oil and Gas in Uganda (ICOGU) → EACOP

    Uganda's insurance regulator said on 21 August 2022 that the consortium insures the pipeline; StopEACOP disputes that the cover is complete. The Independent (Uganda)

  25. 2021No policy found
    Uganda Re, ZEP-Re, Africa Re → EACOP

    Offered up to 30% of the risk under the EACOP (Special Provisions) Act 2021; actual participation not confirmed. Dialogue Earth

  26. 2022No policy found
    Marsh (broker) → EACOP

    Reported by the Financial Times in May 2022 to be arranging the insurance; Marsh does not confirm clients. Business Insurance

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Insurers ruling it out
30
Campaign count, April 2025
Pipeline built
98%
1,414 of 1,443 km, September 2026
Independent ecological evaluation
None on record
The refusals cited ESG, policy and protected-area standards; no source reviewed records a measured effect on land or water

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Key earnings undisclosedCase pending / contested

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
  • Disputed Why did Chubb rule out the pipeline?

Money

  • None on record First external financing tranche (Afreximbank, Standard Bank, Stanbic Uganda, KCB Uganda, ICD) — Amount not confirmed in the source record.

Court

  • Unclear OECD complaint against Marsh over EACOP brokerage: outcome not on record.
  • Unclear EACOP (Special Provisions) Act 2021: outcome not on record.
  • Unclear Charges against students protesting EACOP in Kampala: outcome not on record.

Insurers

  • Unclear AIG: no decision on record.
  • Unclear Tokio Marine: no decision on record.
  • Unclear Chaucer: no decision on record.
  • Unclear Hiscox: no decision on record.
  • Unclear Liberty Mutual: no decision on record.
  • Unclear Brit: no decision on record.
  • Unclear Beazley: no decision on record.
  • Unclear Insurance Consortium for Oil and Gas in Uganda (ICOGU): no decision on record.
  • Unclear Uganda Re, ZEP-Re, Africa Re: no decision on record.
  • Unclear Marsh (broker): no decision on record.

Figures

  • Insufficient Pipeline completion pct: Reported by Ecofin in April 2026; not independently verified.

Accounts

  • Disputed Is the pipeline insured?
  • Disputed Did Marsh break OECD guidelines by acting as broker for EACOP?
  • Disputed Did the refusals matter for the project?
  • None on record Marsh: Declined to comment, citing its policy of not confirming clients.
  • None on record Marsh: Declined to comment, citing its long-standing policy of not confirming the identity of clients.

Record

  • Insufficient No insurer has confirmed a list of current insurers or reinsurers; whether the local consortium still holds the cover is unverified, and StopEACOP disputes that the cover is complete (the sources reviewed do not give its figures).
  • None on record No 2025–26 statement was found from AIG, Tokio Marine, Chaucer or Hiscox; no Chinese insurer participation was confirmed.
  • None on record Chubb's project-specific wording on EACOP was not found; campaigners link its refusal to its 2023 protected-areas policy.
  • Disputed Trackers count the refusals differently: the sources give about 11 in August 2022, 28 in February 2024 and 30 in April 2025, and do not reconcile the lists. A figure of "27 banks and 23 insurers" withdrawing is a campaign claim, reported but not independently verified.
  • Disputed Completion reports differ by date and source: Ecofin reported 82% in April 2026 (not independently verified), the Monitor reported about 91% in mid-2026, and AllAfrica reported 1,414 of 1,443 km completed and buried in September 2026.
  • Insufficient The size of the first financing tranche (reported as about US$1bn) is not verified.
  • Disputed Arrest counts for August 2024 differ between sources: 47 students on 9 August and 21 people on 26 August in one account, and 72 in August 2024 in another. A report that eight students were convicted in April 2026 is unverified; no verdict in the August 2024 case is on record.
  • None on record The outcome of the OECD complaint against Marsh was not found.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: in June 2019 the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment wrote that the pipeline's environmental assessment did not provide enough information for a sound decision, before approvals in Tanzania (November 2019) and Uganda (December 2020).

Did the harm stop?

No. About 30 insurers declined cover; construction continued and first oil is expected in June 2027.

Who paid?

The sources reviewed do not state who bears the cost of the cover; the Special Provisions Act offers local reinsurers up to 30% of the risk. Protesters against the pipeline were arrested in 2024 and 2025.

Sources

Voices on record: ✓ Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

Company or project

Government and regulators

  1. EACOP is locally insured – IRA boss
    The Independent (Uganda) · 2022-08

Press and investigations

  7. EACOP progress report
    AllAfrica · 2026-09-14
  8. Insurance giant breached international guidelines by backing oil pipeline
    The Bureau of Investigative Journalism · 2023-02-07

Communities and civil society

  1. EACOP: three more insurers rule out
    Coal Action Network · 2022-08-19

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Places and local terms

EACOP
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline, planned to carry oil from western Uganda to the port of Tanga in Tanzania.

Insurance

Reinsurance
Insurance bought by insurers to pass part of their own risk to other companies.
Underwriter
An insurer, or a person at an insurer, who assesses a risk and decides whether and on what terms to insure it.

Institutions

DFC
The US International Development Finance Corporation, a government agency that lends to and insures private projects abroad.
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and its global list assessing species' risk of extinction.
OECD complaint
A complaint filed with a government's National Contact Point under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; the process is mediation, not a court.

Carbon and conservation finance

ESG
Environmental, social and governance criteria that investors and insurers use to screen companies and projects.

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
Constitutional Court
The highest court for questions of constitutional rights in a country.