For OMV, transparency, trust, and partnership-based relationships with local communities are key to ensuring that we are a responsible and welcomed neighbor wherever we operate. The business strategy and business model could impact communities where OMV is active. Adding value to affected communities is essential to safeguard our operations for the future. OMV secures its social license to operate by upholding human and labor rights and fostering positive relationships with surrounding communities. In the interest of being a responsible international company, we contribute positively to the fulfillment of human rights in our immediate surroundings through several projects and initiatives. Investments in community relations and development specifically address identified community needs. They are designed to mitigate social risks that could result from company operations and initiate positive change in neighboring communities and OMV’s sphere of influence.
Failure to respect, protect, and fulfill economic, social, political, civil, and cultural rights, or neglecting community consultation, compensation, and reparation related to our value chain or own operations can, however, result in negative impacts. Additional effects may stem from process safety incidents or from dust and noise disturbances affecting surrounding communities due to construction and transport activities. Additionally, limited employment opportunities due to the lack of necessary skills could negatively impact the development of the communities in the vicinity of our operations. Business development can potentially disturb cultural heritage sites of indigenous people and other communities, adversely affecting the preservation of local cultural heritage and its tangible and intangible values through damage, interference, or restriction of access. The inability to avoid involuntary resettlement can also lead to negative impacts on the economic, social, or cultural well-being of the rights holders in the affected communities, further exacerbating the challenges they face.
Respecting communities’ civil and political rights by encouraging and promoting the right to protest and the possibility for expression of opinion, while implementing a no lethal weapons policy and a graduated force response model, has a positive impact. Additionally, supporting local employment and business development through OMV business initiatives leads to tangible positive results for local communities. For details on our material IROs for S3 Affected Communities, see ESRS 2 General Information.
ESRS 2-SBM-3 Interaction of the Material IROs with the Strategy and Business Model
Communities are defined as entities or individuals who can be significantly impacted by the organization’s activities, products, and services, and whose actions can influence the organization’s ability to implement its strategies and achieve its objectives. This includes various communities or individuals whose legal rights or rights under international conventions grant them legitimate claims against the organization: local communities, remote communities, communities engaged in or affected by our value chain Communities are exposed to impacts from OMV’s own operations and upstream value chain. Environmental impacts include process safety incidents and social impacts includes dust and noise disturbances, involuntary resettlement, limited employment opportunities, and the preservation of local cultural heritage.
Local communities subject to our material impacts include those living near OMV’s operating sites and facilities, such as drilling sites, refineries, and pipeline routes, who are directly affected by our operations. Remote communities situated further from our primary sites indirectly impacted by OMV’s activities are also considered. This includes all individuals living near OMV’s operations, and landowners impacted by our business activities. Influential community members, such as tribal, political, or religious leaders, are also affected. These stakeholders play a crucial role in the social fabric of the communities and their perspectives are integral to our engagement processes. Our approach includes regular consultations and dialogues with these groups to understand their concerns and aspirations. This helps us to mitigate any adverse impacts and to foster positive relationships built on trust and mutual respect.
The material impacts are connected to the business model in various ways. The upstream value chain and the following communities are also subject to OMV’s identified material impacts:
- remote communities (populations situated further from our primary operational sites and directly and indirectly affected by our upstream value chain activities such as communities impacted by traffic transport due to construction or oil leaks on the road);
- communities engaged in or affected by our value chain, including those in regions where we source raw materials, and develop extraction operations, as well as areas involved in the transportation and distribution network such as communities at upstream endpoints of the value chain.
Operating in rural landscapes and offshore, affected communities generally include neighboring farmers, indigenous tribes with connections to the land and sea within which we operate, and neighboring tribes whose areas may be negatively affected in the unlikely event of a spill. Indigenous communities are known to reside in proximity to our operations in Māui, Pohokura, and Maari in New Zealand, as well as in the Arma district in Yemen.
The identified potential negative material impacts on the communities in the vicinity of our operations are generally connected to individual incidents in OMV’s own operations or those from business relationships, e.g., communities’ health, safety, and quality of life, although some widespread impacts may materialize if certain procedures are not followed. Systemic impacts may be connected to problems or challenges prevalent within the local context and driven by root causes outside of OMV’s immediate control, e.g., lack of control over public security forces. However, they nonetheless increase the risk of adverse impacts within OMV’s own operations or value chain. Grievances can be communicated on behalf of another individual or as a collective case. In widespread cases, grievances may be submitted by a group of community members through a joint letter, by a major representative approaching OMV on behalf of the community, or via a union representing value chain workers.
Due to the profile of our industry, our value chain and logistics can impact local communities negatively by causing traffic congestion and increasing air pollution levels, which may affect their health and well-being. Our grievance register has previously recorded significant negative impacts on health, safety, quality of life, and the environment, highlighting issues related to dust and noise disturbances from our operations and competition for land. These are generally individual events related to landowners and pollution incidents like spills, noise, and dust. Process Safety Management (PSM) remains a crucial focus for the Company as both a moral and business imperative. A process safety incident could significantly impact community health, safety, quality of life, and the environment, for example through water contamination from drilling or exposure to hazardous substances. To mitigate these risks, effective prevention measures are implemented.
Most of the grievances received through OMV’s Community Grievance Mechanisms (CGMs) to date have been registered in OMV Petrom’s Exploration & Production (E&P) division. In 2024, we conducted several evaluations and analyses focusing on managing recurrent grievances, particularly relating to historically polluted sites. We are working to address the root causes of recurring grievances more efficiently, such as claims related to land rentals and environmental compensation. Failure to provide employment opportunities for local communities (skilled and unskilled) and a lack of control over public security forces can increase the risk of adverse impacts within OMV’s own operations or value chain. These impacts generally tend to be systemic in nature.
In addition to these negative impacts, positive effects on local communities have also been confirmed, such as local procurement, access to grievance channels, respect for communities and human rights, first aid for disadvantaged communities, business and employment opportunities, and contributions to local development through social and community investments (e.g., social investments in Romania and Austria). Our social investments aim to support communities and areas in the countries where we operate, with community development projects designed as investments expected to generate returns for the communities or society as a whole. Priority is given to projects with the potential to create long-term societal value and bring lasting positive changes to the lives of beneficiaries. OMV is committed to constant community engagement, grounded in mutual respect, transparency, and open dialogue. Our approach involves identifying and managing relationships with individuals, groups, or organizations affected by our activities or impacting our business. Stakeholder analysis is a crucial part of our Social and Human Rights Impact Assessment (SHIA), which provides information on our community strategy and annual engagement plans outlined in the Community Relations and Development (CR&D) handbook. The community grievance mechanism is an ongoing process for monitoring local needs and concerns. For instance, we identified indigenous groups (iwi and hapū) in New Zealand as high-priority stakeholders due to the cultural significance of the environment, and regularly engage with them through our ongoing stakeholder engagement program for OMV NZ. This engagement is tailored to various assets and projects, involving multiple groups to ensure their voices are heard.
No material risks and opportunities were identified for the topic of Affected Communities during the materiality assessment. However, we recognize reputational benefits of providing ad-hoc support and humanitarian aid to communities affected by natural disasters or war.