A non-profit climate advocacy organisation, Fossil Free South Africa, has filed a complaint against Standard Bank over sustainability claims connected to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.

The complaint, filed by Lawyers for Human Rights and submitted to South Africa’s Advertising Regulatory Board on Wednesday, asked the advertising regulator to scrutinise whether the bank can market itself as a leader in sustainable finance and climate action while financing major new fossil fuel projects.
The complaint accused the financial institution of financing EACOP while simultaneously presenting itself as a leader in sustainable finance, climate mitigation and Africa’s just energy transition.

The complaint asked the ARB to “scrutinise environmental claims contained in Standard Bank’s 2025 Report to Society and its Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, as well as claims made through its commercial Energy Finance, Infrastructure Finance and Sustainable Finance advertising”.

According to the filing, these promotional materials portray Standard Bank as a “leading provider of sustainable finance solutions” and a “leading enabler of Africa’s just energy transition”, while promoting commitments to renewable energy, reductions in fossil-fuel exposure, water conservation, biodiversity protection and net-zero financed emissions by 2050.

According to the complaint, Standard Bank is among the financial institutions backing EACOP, a 1,443-kilometre heated crude-oil pipeline stretching from Uganda’s oilfields to the Tanzanian coast. 

The project cuts through communities, wetlands, river systems and ecologically sensitive areas and has become one of the most contested fossil-fuel infrastructure developments on the African continent. 

Citing the project’s consequences, the complaint noted that affected communities reported land loss, economic displacement, disputes over compensation, and threats to livelihoods, while environmental and human rights defenders opposing the project repeatedly faced harassment, arrests, and intimidation.

“More than 40 banks and 30 insurers internationally have distanced themselves from EACOP or adopted policies excluding the project or projects of its kind. Major South African financial institutions including Absa, FirstRand, Nedbank and Investec have also declined involvement,” it noted.

Kholwani Simelane, campaign coordinator and team lead at Fossil Free South Africa, stated, “We are asking the Advertising Regulatory Board to test whether the environmental image Standard Bank sells to the public can actually survive scrutiny against the reality of the projects it finances. 

“Standard Bank wants the South African public to associate its brand with wind turbines, renewable energy, sustainable finance and a just transition. Yet, they are helping finance a massive new crude-oil pipeline through East Africa.” 

The complaint raised concerns about the bank’s claims of sustainability leadership, renewable-energy finance, fossil-fuel reduction, net-zero alignment, water stewardship, and environmental responsibility.

It particularly highlighted the contradiction that the financial institution was committed to achieving net-zero financed emissions by 2050 while supporting infrastructure expected to facilitate crude-oil production and transportation for decades. 

It further questioned how commitments to water conservation and environmental stewardship could be reconciled with financing a pipeline that passes through or near extensive freshwater systems, including the Lake Victoria basin, upon which tens of millions of people depend.

“For people living along the EACOP corridor, this is not an abstract debate about corporate language. Communities have lived with the consequences of this project through the loss of land and livelihoods, pressure on local ecosystems and the repression of those who have challenged it.

“Financial institutions should not be able to present themselves elsewhere as champions of climate action and environmental stewardship without being accountable for what their money is making possible,” said Zaki Mamdoo, the coordinator of the StopEACOP Coalition.