INSURANCE AS AN INSTRUMENT FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF CONTAMINATED SITES: CUBAN AND BRAZILIAN EXPERIENCES

The purpose of this article is to verify which types of insurance are permitted for environmental management and whether they are effective instruments for the management of contaminated sites. This is a relevant and current issue as the number of contaminated areas in Brazil grows, and that, in state of Sao Paulo alone, more than 6.000 areas were identified with environmental liability from 2002 to 2019. For that, an exploratory research was done to identify what exists in foreign and in Brazilian legislations and doctrines, especially Cuban's, regarding the environmental insurance theme. The choice for the Cuban experience is justified in allowing a relevant counterpoint with the Brazilian experience: there is a time in the Cuban insurance market, under state control; and a promising insurance market in Brazil, backed by the capitalist economic system. The following are relevant points of the research: the procedures for the identification and management of a contaminated area; aspects for the identification and valuation of risks and damages; and the difference between environmental insurance and guarantee insurance. As contribution of this study, the challenges for the identification of different scenarios of environmental risks are pointed out, as well as the care taken in the conclusion of the insurance contract by the insurer and the contractor.