Support for conservation and recovery initiatives for forests and natural areas, integrated with the promotion of water resilience and biodiversity

Petrobras has been making voluntary investments in socio-environmental projects for over 40 years, and in 2003 it started to structure these investments into corporate programs. Currently, the Petrobras Socio-environmental Program brings together the company's voluntary socio-environmental investments, whose purpose is to contribute to the sustainability of the business, supporting initiatives that generate positive and significant value for society and the environment.

We work in partnership with civil society organizations, with the aim of strengthening dialogue with the communities where we operate, boosting the production of scientific knowledge and valuing traditional knowledge, promoting positive social and environmental transformations in society, through projects structured in four lines of action: Education, Sustainable Economic Development, Ocean and Forests.

These transformations proposed by the projects are aimed at contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with emphasis on the SDGs (4) Quality Education, (8) Decent Work and Economic Growth; (14) Water Life and (15) Land Life; and in a complementary way to other SDGs through cross-cutting themes, such as early childhood, innovation and human rights. With regard to the “Forests” line of action, we support initiatives aimed at the conservation and recovery of forests and natural areas by promoting water resilience and biodiversity, including reversing the degradation of springs, springs and watercourses, restoration of riparian forest and watershed management.

This investment is in line with Petrobras' efforts to continuously improve the management of water resources and effluents, supporting the achievement of the Water Safety commitments set out in the company's 2023-2027 Strategic Planning.

In 2022, we supported 22 projects aimed at the conservation and recovery of forests and natural areas that collaborated to preserve water, through actions to reverse the degradation of springs, springs and watercourses, recomposition of riparian forests and management of river basins, in addition to initiatives aimed at strengthening resilience and the ability to adapt to water scarcity and extreme events.

By supporting forest-focused projects, we reaffirm our interest in addressing challenges to our business, including the transition to a low-carbon economy. Such projects strengthen our commitment to sustainability, as they contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions, as well as produce other social and environmental benefits, such as income generation, environmental education, biodiversity conservation, water preservation and improvements in the microclimate . Additionally, forest conservation or restoration initiatives in the river basins in which we operate possibly contribute to the maintenance and improvement of water bodies that supply the population and our units.

Currently, we support 7 socio-environmental projects operating in river basins that are relevant to the company, namely the Basin of Baixada Santista – Rio Cubatão (RPBC); Atibaia Basin (Replan); Cantareira System (Replan and Greater São Paulo); Guandu Basin (Reduc); Paraíba do Sul Basin (Revap); Guapi Macacu sub-basin – Guanabara Bay (Gaslub); North Coast Basin of SP – Juqueriquerê River (UTGCA) Our investment in projects of this nature was recognized by the BNDES Award – Todos pela Sustentabilidade, in the Water category, with the Semeando Água project, sponsored by Petrobras since 2013.

The initiative is carried out by the Ecological Research Institute (IPÊ) and operates in the Cantareira System region within the limits of eight municipalities in São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The project seeks to engage landowners, producers and rural successors, inviting them to rethink the use of the soil, with the planning of rural properties involving the legal adequacy of the properties in view of the guidelines of the Forest Code. The proposal is that land use connects the need for conservation with economic potential.

Through support for the project, 30 hectares were restored and more than 50,000 seedlings native to the Atlantic Forest were planted, in addition to converting 70 hectares into conventional pasture for Ecological pasture management and other sustainable production systems such as agroforestry systems and silviculture of native species. More than 200 rural producers and technicians were trained in the eight municipalities where the project operates, and more than 23,000 children from schools in the region were involved in environmental education actions.

In 2023, Petrobras launched the Public Selection of the Petrobras Socio-Environmental Program, which will allocate R$ 432 million to projects surrounding operations and/or with priority themes for its business. This is the highest amount ever invested in a public selection of Petrobras' socio-environmental projects. The public notice covers all lines of action of the Petrobras Socio-environmental Program: Forests, Ocean, Education and Sustainable Economic Development, with the priority audiences being indigenous peoples, traditional communities, fishermen, women, blacks, children, people with disabilities and LGBTQIA+.

Additionally, we point out that the current project portfolio of the Petrobras Socio-environmental Program working on the theme of Forests has initiatives that will develop actions until the year 2025. The maintenance of support for current projects and the selection of new projects that contribute to the conservation of springs and riparian forests will also collaborate with our commitment to water security, present in the 2023-2027 Strategic Plan.

Through the 2023 Public Selection, 8 new projects will be added that may have actions in river basins relevant to our assets in the South and Southeast regions. This investment is in line with the Social Responsibility Policy, which advocates the commitment to supply energy, respecting human rights and the environment, relating responsibly with the communities where we operate and overcoming sustainability challenges, such as the transition to a low carbon economy.

Our socio-environmental projects have targets and indicators established upon contracting, which allows periodically evaluating their performance. The collection of information includes information about the public served, the engagement in the planned activities and the results obtained in the actions.

In terms of Forests, the projects operated in the Amazon, Cerrado, Caatinga and Atlantic Forest biomes. Covered seed collection. Of these, 14 are species of endangered fauna, including the puma, the tapir, the three-banded armadillo and the southern muriqui. The endangered flora includes species such as juçara, araucaria, Brazil nut and jequitibá-açu, which have great ecological and economic value for many traditional communities and indigenous peoples.

These initiatives benefited more than 38,000 people in restoration activities, support for communities, ongoing education and training actions, with around 10,000 participants referring to children up to 6 years of age who had access to environmental education actions. In training activities, there were more than 31,000 participants in courses and workshops related to restoration methods, implementation of agroforestry systems, structuring of production chains. Environmental awareness actions reached more than 236,000 people, including commemorative events, cleanup campaigns and access to visitor centers. Projects in force in 2022 produced more than 187 technical and scientific publications, with 155 participating researchers and granting more than 100 grants.

In addition to monitoring indicators, we carry out analyzes of the socio-environmental return of the projects in the program's portfolio (Social Return on Investment - SROI and its variant of Cost-Benefit Analysis -ACB) whose methodology converts into monetary values the transformations that occurred due to the implementation of the project . On average, the evaluated projects return BRL 5.10 in socio-environmental benefits for each BRL invested by Petrobras.

More information on socio-environmental projects in the Florestas line supported by Petrobras:

PROJETO GUAPIAÇU – http://www.projetoguapiacu.org/

The Guapiaçu IV project, carried out by AÇÃO SOCIOAMBIENTAL in partnership with Petrobras, aims to contribute to the socio-environmental improvement of the Guanabara Bay region and surroundings, through actions that integrate local environments and communities, enhancing restoration actions, environmental education , biodiversity monitoring and reintroduction of native fauna. The area covered by the project includes the municipalities of Cachoeiras de Macacu, Magé, Itaboraí and Maricá, in the Metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, which has undergone major changes in the last decade. This hydrographic region is responsible for supplying water to almost 3 million people in the eastern portion of Guanabara Bay. According to historical data, the Guapi-Macacu sub-basin stands out for its water availability for other regions in quantity and quality.

FLORESTANDO O SEMIÁRIDO – https://www.florestandoosemiarido.org/o-projeto The Florestando o Semiárido project operates in the forest recovery of an area of 85 hectares in the caatinga through actions of production and planting of seedlings, structuring of agroforestry and production diversified with cacti and other species adapted to the semi-arid region. In addition to the production of more than 300,000 seedlings, the project promotes the sustainable management of the ecosystem, the production of food in a sustainable way, the application of social technologies for the preservation of water bodies and the availability of water in the semi-arid region.

IN THE CLIMATE OF THE CAATINGA – https://www.noclimadacaatinga.org.br/ The caatinga, the only exclusively Brazilian biome, is one of the most biodiverse environments in the world and also one of the most threatened. The No Clima da Caatinga project seeks to change this scenario, working in the Serra das Almas Natural Reserve, between Ceará and Piauí, in environmental conservation actions, protection of water resources, promoting the dissemination of sustainable technologies such as the solar oven, the eco-efficient stove and the slab cistern in the surrounding communities. It also invests in environmental education actions in communities, encouraging the creation of environmental public policies and encouraging the management of Private Natural Heritage Reserves.

RECOVER CAATINGA – https://recuperacaatinga.ongchapada.org.br/ The preservation of the caatinga is essential to recover and maintain natural sources of water, combat desertification and mitigate climate change. With this objective, the project Recupera Caatinga, carried out in partnership with traditional communities, promotes the recovery of degraded areas in the sertão of Pernambuco. The project implements vegetation recovery systems combined with sustainable production, promotes actions for the recovery of rivers and riparian forests and the rescue of traditional knowledge of the communities on the use of plants, in addition to research on native species of the caatinga that are resilient to extreme weather conditions.

TECENDO AS ÁGUAS – https://supereco.org.br/tecendo-as-aguas/ The Tecendo as Águas project aims to promote the preservation and sustainable use of water resources on the north coast of São Paulo, through practices of responsible tourism, which generates income in a sustainable way, along with actions for the conservation of biodiversity and environmental education to raise awareness in the surrounding communities.

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