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Under the lush forest, oil companies have discovered large deposits of oil. To access it, Petroecuador, Petroperú, CNPC, Gran Tierra and other companies are carving roads into the wilderness and ripping out old-growth trees. The oil producers are speeding up deforestation in the entire region. 20% of the forest in the Amazon region is already lost forever.¹⁵⁶⁷¹ Scientists warn that we can no longer halt the destruction of the rainforest if deforestation in the eastern, southern and central Amazon exceeds this figure.^1473715673 This would inevitably turn the Amazon rainforest into a savanna.

Peru: Fines Finally Piling Up

In the Peruvian Amazon, oil companies happily exploited the lack of environmental regulation and protection of Indigenous peoples in the 1990s and 2000s. Oil companies such as Pluspetrol Norte, Occidental Petroleum and others took advantage of low environmental standards and disregarded Indigenous rights.^1475115675 Many Indigenous people live less than an hour’s walk away from oil production sites. Researchers have found that the closer they live to the oil sites, the more frequently they suffer from cancer and high lead levels in their blood.¹⁵⁶⁷⁷ This is especially scary for children because high lead levels can severely harm their development.¹⁵⁶⁷⁹ In more recent years, the Peruvian Environmental Agency has been at the companies’ heels. Between 2011 and 2021, Pluspetrol Norte alone had to pay more than USD 47 million in fines for environmental destruction.¹⁴⁷⁵⁵ Still, the dirty practices continue.^1475715683

Brazil: Oil blocks from the forests to the sea

Brazil is home to the largest part of the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon River flows into the ocean off the Brazilian coast. The mouth of the Amazon creates perfect conditions for mangroves and, to researchers’ astonishment, a 9,300 km2 (3,600 m2) coral reef system.¹⁹⁴⁶⁴ Currently, 451 oil blocks are threatening the Brazilian Amazon. 130 of the blocks overlap with the reef system hidden below the opaque waters at the Amazon River’s outflow.¹⁹⁴⁶⁵ Brazilian oil company Petrobras is pushing forward with its plans for offshore exploration in the vulnerable environment. The federal environmental agency has already denied the company permit to drill once. The independent body is yet to finally decide on the future of Petrobras’ offshore dreams.¹⁹⁴⁶⁶ For now, Petrobras has failed to adequately consult affected communities. Several Indigenous communities and civil society groups have launched legal actions and public protests to make sure government agencies are doing their job protecting Indigenous rights and the environment.^{194671946819469}

In some Indigenous communities in Peru, the fight against oil and gas drilling on their lands is becoming a lifelong task. One prominent example of Indigenous resistance against oil production in the Amazon rainforest is the persistent fight of the Achuar People of the Pastaza River and the Wampis Nation. For three decades, they have effectively defended their lands against the attempts of international oil companies, such as Oxy, Talisman, and Geopark, to drill for oil in concession block number 64. Now, these communities are taking on state-owned Petroperú, a company infamous for its history of pipeline spills and destruction.^1477115691 Oil companies eager to expand into the Amazon have tried to spread distrust and division within the Indigenous communities to prevent resistance.¹⁵⁶⁹³ However, the Achuar People of the Pastaza River and the Wampis Nation have kept up the fight.¹⁴⁷⁷³ Persistent protests and blockades all across the Peruvian Amazon are slowly pushing fossil fuel companies and investors away.¹⁵⁶⁹⁷

The Peruvian courts have not been of much help for the long-lasting fight of Indigenous communities.¹⁵⁶⁹⁹ In 2021, the highest Peruvian court turned down a case filed by the Achuar Indigenous people against oil and gas activities on their land. The judgment undermines affected communities’ rights to free, prior, and informed consent.¹⁴⁷⁷⁵ However, the resistance will not end there. The Achuar People plan to overturn this judgment in the Interamerican system. They have already filed a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).¹⁴⁷⁷⁷

To banish all oil companies from their home once and for all, Indigenous peoples and NGO allies are increasingly targeting financiers and investors.^{157011570315705} In July 2024, Citibank gave in to public pressure and adopted a policy limiting financing of projects in the Amazon.¹⁹⁴⁷¹ Any financial institution backing oil companies in the Amazon must expect resistance.