Following a report released by Greenpeace Africa and its partners last weekend analyzing the specific commitments of insurance and reinsurance companies to the oil auction in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), activists from France and Croatia arrived in Monte Carlo to dissuade companies from underwriting oil development in the rainforest.
“We are in Monte Carlo, one of the richest places in the world, to make sure that a group of super-rich and powerful insurance companies do not exacerbate the hardships of some of the world’s poorest communities in the DRC,” said Irene. Wabiwa, International Project Manager for the Congo Basin at Greenpeace Africa.
Activists disrupted the conference to call on the insurance industry to stop supporting the climate crisis. Oil companies want to drill in Congo’s rainforests, destroying communities and biodiversity, and insurance companies should not support them.
The DRC does not have the national capacity to provide insurance for oil exploration and the high risks it entails. As a result, companies that win exploration rights in tenders for DRC oil blocks will likely rely on the services of some of the world’s largest insurance and reinsurance companies, mostly based in Europe and North America.
In July 2022, the DRC announced tenders for exploration rights to 30 oil and gas blocks. 13 of these oil blocks are located in protected areas and national parks, including the Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, despite the promises of the DRC’s Minister of Hydrocarbons, Didier Budimba.
Most importantly, oil tenders in the DRC do not respect the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of indigenous peoples and local communities inhabiting the territories whose exploration rights are being auctioned. Greenpeace Africa forest activists visited eight oil blocks. They found that local communities “were all shocked at the prospect of their land being auctioned off to oil companies,” and follow-up visits a year later revealed growing opposition to the tenders.