(Bloomberg) -- Standard Bank Group Ltd., Africa’s biggest bank by assets, faces opposition from environmental activists to its plan to fund an oil pipeline in East Africa.

350.org, an international group of climate activists that opposes the use of fossil fuels, will on Thursday hand over a petition signed by more than 20,000 people to the bank’s headquarters in Johannesburg, according to a statement.

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline is “set to traverse Uganda and Tanzania, causing potentially irreversible damage to farmlands and wetlands,” 350.org said in the statement. Thirty million people in six nations will be affected, it said.

Uganda discovered commercially viable oil deposits in 2006 and plans to start production in 2023-24. Total SA and Cnooc Ltd. of China own fields in the country.

“Standard Bank is committed to doing business the right way,” the bank said in a response to questions. “We support responsible investment through assessing and managing our environmental, social and governance risks.”

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