Four small-scale farmers from rural Uganda have launched a high-stakes legal battle in the United Kingdom against French energy major TotalEnergies, challenging the company’s flagship East African Crude Oil Pipeline project.

The case, filed in the High Court in London with support from the global campaign group Avaaz, targets the 5.6 billion-dollar East African Crude Oil Pipeline, known as EACOP. The 1,400-kilometre pipeline is designed to transport crude from oilfields in western Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga, and is billed as the world’s longest heated crude oil pipeline once operational.

The farmers say the project has already upended their lives. They allege that land was compulsorily acquired without adequate consultation, that compensation was delayed or insufficient, and that families were left in limbo for years, unable to plant perennial crops or invest in their plots while waiting for payments. Their claim argues that these impacts breach Uganda’s environmental and constitutional protections, as well as international human rights standards.

At the heart of the lawsuit is an attempt to hold a multinational company to account in a foreign court for alleged harms occurring thousands of kilometres away. The farmers are asking British judges to issue an injunction that could prevent oil from flowing through EACOP unless the project is brought into line with Ugandan law and stronger environmental safeguards.

Environmental organisations have long branded EACOP a carbon bomb, warning that the pipeline and associated oil fields could generate hundreds of millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetime. They also highlight the route’s proximity to ecologically sensitive areas, including Murchison Falls National Park, home to elephants, lions and rare bird species, and the risk of leaks or spills contaminating Lake Victoria’s watershed.

TotalEnergies insists the project complies with national regulations and international standards. The company says it has carried out extensive environmental and social impact assessments, strengthened compensation schemes and designed the pipeline to minimise risks to communities and biodiversity.

Legal experts say the case is significant because it is believed to be the first time Ugandan environmental laws have been tested in a British court. A ruling in favour of the farmers could open the door to similar transnational lawsuits, reshaping how major energy projects are scrutinised and who can be held responsible for their climate and social consequences.