Check out the highlights from each day of the biggest sustainability event in Latin America!
September 28th – 1st day
The tenth edition of the Sustainable Congress, a promotion by the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) and partners, began this Tuesday, 28th, and, for the first time, it is being held online, with open access to all . After two years of interruption, the meeting is back and on the first day there were speeches and considerations focused on the Amazon.
At the opening of Sustentável 2021, Coletivo Calipso and the group Entre Botos e Sereias presented a song and dance number based on the authentic carimbó, a predominant rhythm in the Amazon region.
Marina Grossi, president of CEBDS, opened the event and showed the goals that are already underway so that Brazil can reach the zero carbon level by 2050, emphasizing that the country has advantages in this action compared to countries like China and the United States. United.
The president moderated the first panel of the day with the theme “The Brazilian business sector and the Amazon – the necessary convergence”, with the participation of Flávio Dino, governor of Maranhão; João Paulo Ferreira, president of Natura; Joanita Maestri Karoleski, president of the JBS Fund for the Amazon and Carlos Ayres Britto, former minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF).
Panel 1: The Brazilian business sector and the Amazon – the necessary convergence
Flávio Dino highlighted that there is a joint initiative by the governors of the Legal Amazon so that the Amazon Fund, which has a budget forecast of R$ 2 billion reais, and has not been active for two years, can be resumed immediately.
João Paulo Ferreira warned that a company that is negligent with its carbon emissions could be considered uncivilized within a few years, compared to companies that employ child labor.
Ayres Britto stated that Brazil's direction towards being a more sustainable country is fully supported by the Federal Constitution. The former minister was emphatic in saying that the environmental problems, which have been occurring in the last two years, could make the Union guilty of a crime of responsibility.
Panel 2: Amazon – how to finance the standing forest
The second panel was about “Amazonia – how to finance the standing forest”, which included the participation, in recorded videos, of the governors of Amazonas, Wilson Lima; from Pará, Helder Barbalho; and from Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes. The three showed progress in their states, the largest in the Amazon region in terms of area, on the issue of the environment.
Mendes highlighted that Mato Grosso reached, this year, 62% of its preserved territory. “The state’s biome is as it was 500 years ago,” he stated. Wilson Lima spoke about the state's work in relation to small producers and the intention to “keep the forest standing”. “For every tree that we manage to keep standing, there will be an indigenous person, a riverside person leaving the poverty line in Amazonas”, he emphasized. Helder Barbalho spoke about the Pará program Amazônia Agora, which managed to reduce deforestation in Pará by around 12% in the period from August 2020 to June 2021.
Still in the second panel, representatives from banks Itaú, Santander and Bradesco participated, who showed details of the Amazon Plan, created a year ago, to contain illegal deforestation in that region. Luciana Nicola, from Itaú, highlighted the creation of an advisory board for the bank, made up of seven experts in the Amazon.
Marcelo Pasquini, from Bradesco, said the experts were fundamental in understanding how the three banks should work and what should be prioritized. And Carolina Carvalho, from Santander, said that the project made the group understand that more than just financing, banks can play a supportive role for large, medium and small business owners.
Panel 3: How companies have been contributing to global biodiversity goals (COP15)
The third panel of the day was on “How companies have been contributing to global biodiversity goals (COP15)”. The speakers were Deise DallaNora, director of Food Solutions Innovation at Yara Brasil; Markus Lehmann, director of the Scientific Division, Society and Sustainable Futures – Convention on Biological Diversity and Mirim Ju Yan Guarany, coordinator of the Indigenous Council of the Federal District, moderated by Braulio Dias, professor at the University of Brasília (UnB).
Deise DallaNora spoke about a new circular economy that relies on science and technology, in a collaborative way, seeking a new production model.
Panel 4: Does the Amazon save the Paris Agreement?
The panels during the afternoon were about “How companies have been contributing to global biodiversity goals (COP15)”; “Does the Amazon save the Paris Agreement?” and “Call to action: the collaboration needed to combat illegal deforestation”.
Izabella Teixeira, former Minister of the Environment, mediated the panel on the Paris Agreement. Ane Alencar, from IPAM, said that Brazil is living in a “chronic emergency”, especially in the last three years, which has brought an increase of 79% in deforestation compared to 2017 and 2018. She drew attention to areas of the Amazon, where deforestation is highly mechanized. “I flew over an area of Lábrea, in the south of Amazonas, and we noticed a new agricultural frontier, which also brings logging supported by gangs and organized crime”, he warned.
“We cannot move forward with a positive agenda without resolving the negative one”, pointed out Ane.
Still on this panel, André Clark, from Siemens Energy Brasil Ltda., cited a text from Piauí magazine, from 2019, which stated “The biggest loser in the scenario of destruction of the Amazon is, before the rest of the world, Brazil”, leaving a reflection for everyone.
Panel 5: Call to action – the collaboration needed to combat illegal deforestation
The last panel of the day “Call to action: the necessary collaboration to combat illegal deforestation” had the participation of Adnan Demachki, a lawyer from Pará and former mayor of Paragominas, northeast region of Pará. Demachki used the example of the city hall he managed for eight years , where he managed to remove the municipality from the fearsome “Deforestation Black List” of the Ministry of the Environment, at the time, transforming it into an example, at a national level, which initiated, in Pará and Brazil, the Green Municipalities program.
Demachki said he was unaware of any national-level planning aimed at the Amazon. “What is the Federal Government’s project for the Amazon? What we always had were specific actions”, he criticized. And he continued “Brazil needs to prioritize the Amazon. We need a bigger project at the central level”, he warned.
The panel also included Juliana de Lavor Lopes, director of ESG, Communication and Compliance at AMAGGI; Mariano Cenamo, director of New Business at IDESAM and CEO-AMAZ; and Rafael Rocha, public prosecutor at the Federal Public Ministry, moderated by Ana Toni, executive director of the Instituto Clima e Sociedade.
September 29th – 2nd day
With music by Brazilian composer and conductor Heitor Villa-Lobos, performed on piano and harmonica, the tenth edition of the Sustainable Congress, a promotion by the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) and partners, continued this Wednesday, 29th, with two panels, in the morning, and four, in the afternoon.
A particularity of this day was the topic of Food Systems, which ended up opening the debates and also closing them. In the morning, Diane Holdorf, executive director of the Food & Nature program, spoke about the importance of Brazil, which has a lot to contribute, as it is becoming one of the best players of Food Systems in the world. In the last panel, at the end of the afternoon, Stéphane Engelhard, vice-president of Institutional Relations at Carrefour, showed how the company is investing in food security, which starts, for example, with the meat sold by the group. The food begins the sustainable production chain, from the birth of the animal, continuing until the ideal moment for cutting.
Panel 1: Vision 2050 – new agenda for companies and society
The first panel was about “Vision 2050: new agenda for companies and society”, with the participation of Ana Cristina Cupelo, from the oil company Equinor Brasil; Diane Holdorf, executive director of the Food & Nature (WBCSD) program; Karin Formigoni, general director Brazil at Arcadis. Moderation was by Adriana Leles, stakeholder Council GRI/Amsterdam.
Diane also highlighted the need for there to be a shared vision of the future. “We must have action, with challenges for natural emergencies adjusted to the needs of society. The imperatives must be adjusted to the business world and we have identified nine needs in this sector. The transformation must happen in partnership with other stakeholders.”
CBDES, in partnership with WBCSD, revisited, at the beginning of 2021, the “Visão Brasil” program, which aims to present a perspective of sustainable development and the possible path to achieve it. The review included a broad consultation that involved around 4 thousand stakeholders from various sectors, in Brazil and abroad.
Panel 2: Climate ambition in Brazil
The theme of the second panel was “Climate ambition in Brazil” with Joaquim Levy, director of Economic Strategy and Market Relations at Safra bank; Natália Renteria, technical manager of Climate and Climate Finance at CEBDS; Sophie Punte, executive director of policy (We Mean Business Coalition) and Tânia Cosentino, president of Microsoft Brazil, moderated by Luana Maia, director of Operations and Strategic Planning at CEBDS
“The Race to Zero campaign aims to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050”, explained Tânia Cosentino. “Sustainability, at Microsoft Brazil, is a journey supported by the pillars of culture, strategies, recycling and governance. Based on these points, the company allocates R$ 1 billion to startups working on Green Solutions, such as removing carbon from the atmosphere through technology,” he continued.
Tânia also spoke about the PrevisIA tool, which anticipates information from regions at greater risk of deforestation and fires in the Amazon through Artificial Intelligence (AI). This equipment is a partnership between Microsoft, the Institute of Man and the Environment of the Amazon (Imazon) and Fundo Vale.
Panel 3: The role of the business sector in the decade of ocean science
The third panel discussed “The role of the business sector in the decade of ocean science” with speakers Alexander Turra, professor at the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo; Carolina Santos Pecorari, director of Sustainability and ESG SAZ (Ambev); Glauco Kimura de Freitas, Natural Sciences project officer (UNESCO Brazil); Karen Silverwood-Cope, General Coordinator of Ocean, Antarctica and Geosciences and Luísa Santiago, executive director for Latin America at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, who were moderated by Juliana Poncioni, director of Parley for the Oceans Brasil.
The panel focused on the health of the oceans and how, in Brazil, the so-called Blue Economy is already generating 19% of GDP, but in contrast, globally, more than 80% of the oceans remain unexplored.
Glauco warned that only 19% of the oceans have already been mapped, the rest is unknown. And even more reckless is that research carried out shows that only 2% of all Science and technology budgets are allocated to studying the oceans.
“The Decade of Ocean Science will cover a period from 2021 to 2030, in which we hope that sea study points will be corrected”, wished Glauco Kimura.
Panel 4: Task Force Recommendations for Financial Disclosures Related to Climate Risks
The next panel discussed “Task Force Recommendations for Financial Disclosures Related to Climate Risks”.
“It is time to definitively implement these changes.” This was the warning from Denise Pavarina, vice-chair of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD, the task force), which reinforced support for the private sector in implementing sustainable financial management.
The lack of a standard report defined and the lack of systemic information are the group's biggest challenges, according to her. Challenge also noted by Cesar Sanches, sustainability superintendent at B3. “Investors have been increasingly looking for more information, opportunities to invest and using ESG strategies”, he guarantees. He also pointed out that there is over US$35 trillion in ESG capital rotation and over 30% of it is available.
For Vale's executive vice-president of sustainability, Maria Luiza Paiva, third guest on the panel, sustainability demands are already included in the business strategy. “The important thing in this process is the issue of governance because it is not just the establishment of goals, but the management of all of this”, he argued.
Panel 5: Producing and preserving is possible
The fifth panel was the call to action “Producing and preserving is possible”, with talks by Denise Hills, Global Director of Sustainability (Natura & Co); Fernando Sampaio, executive director of Produce, Conserve, Include Strategy for the State of Mato Grosso and Gilberto Tomazoni, Global CEO of JBS, moderated by Andrea Vialli, journalist and contributor Valor Econômico/Folha de S. Paulo.
Currently, many companies already know that producing and preserving are not antagonistic verbs. For Brazil to advance in the fight against deforestation and become a protagonist in the application of nature-based solutions, it is necessary to join forces.
“We need to show that economic development can be achieved with standing forests”, commented Fernando Sampaio, executive director of the Produce, Conserve, Include Strategy of the State of Mato Grosso. Combining public and private efforts and international partnerships, the program is promoting the monitoring of deforestation, land regularization and support for indigenous communities and family farming.
With more than 20 years operating in the Amazon, Natura &Co has a lot of experience to exchange. According to the company's sustainability director, Denise Hills, sharing journeys and making methodologies public is one of the ways to contribute to this market.
At JBS, experience shows that it is essential to prioritize care for the supplier network. “The responsibility for the value chain is unquestionable. We developed a platform to monitor direct and indirect suppliers. Today, of our 60 thousand suppliers, 11 thousand are blocked. We are implementing green offices to support compliance to these suppliers and this platform will be open”, reveals the Global CEO of JBS, Gilberto Tomazoni.
Panel 6: ESG Regenerative, inclusive and resilient businesses
Closing the second day of Sustainable 2021, the topic was “Regenerative, inclusive and resilient businesses”, with presentations by Eleni Gritzapis, director of Institutional Relations at Dow; Marcos Matias, president of Schneider Electric Brasil and Stéphane Engelhard, vice-president of Institutional Relations at Carrefour, mediated by Aylla Kipper, manager of Institutional Relations and Sustainability at Lwart Soluções Ambientais.
The business sector is leading a behavioral change towards more responsible use of water resources, and it is up to the public authorities to define clear standards and guidelines in bidding for services provided for in the Sanitation Framework, seeking to promote water security.
Eleni showed how Dow is producing silicon metal in a preserved forest area in Breu Branco, in the southeast region of Pará. In partnership with the Peabiru Institute, the company is strengthening sustainable management throughout the silicon production chain. At another point, Aylla spoke about how Lwart became a leader in the production of used lubricating oil, which uses the re-refining technique.
Stéphane Engelhard showed how Carrefour works on sustainable food production, which is based on five pillars: critical chains; sustainable fishing; human rights; small producers and animal welfare platform.
September 30th – 3rd day
The last day of the tenth edition of the 2021 Sustainable Congress, a promotion by the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) and partners, began with the debate on “The transformation of food systems”, a topic that had already been discussed on the second day of the event.
In 2021, after a gap of two years without being held, the congress was 100% online, open to everyone, with the presence of a total of 6,489 participants, in 14 panel discussions on present and future challenges for a fairer society, resilient and sustainable, which were debated by 64 speakers.
At the end of the 2021 Sustainable Congress, the winners were revealed and trophies were handed out to the winners of the 4th CEBDS Female Leadership Award.
Panel 1: Food Systems Transformations
In the first panel on Thursday, the 30th, the debaters were Celso Luiz Moretti, president of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa); Geraldine Matchett, co-CEO and CFO of DSM and Ricardo Guimarães, CEO of BNP Paribas, moderated by Alessandra Fajardo, director of Engagement Strategy for Agriculture and Environment for Latin America at Bayer.
In one of the panels on Wednesday, 29th, Diane Holdorf, executive director of the Food & Nature program, spoke of the importance of Brazil, which can contribute a lot to the food production chain, as it is becoming one of the best players of Food Systems in the world. A similar statement was made by Geraldine Matchett, who projected: “Due to its history of moving from an importer to a major exporter of food, Brazil is fully capable of leading the revolution in Food Systems that we so desperately need worldwide,” she said.
Celso Luiz Moretti looked back at when the Brazilian Forest Code came into force in 2012. From then until today, a lot has changed, and today the focus is on keeping agribusiness competitive and sustainable, emphasizing processes from before, during and after the gate. “Embrapa is committed to greater diversity, combined with regenerative agriculture, with investments in fibers and bioenergy”, he said.
Geraldine cited as an example of the Food System research that shows that it is possible, with research, to reduce the breaking of eggs, which range from 3 to 12%. With innovations, in simple actions, such as increasing vitamin D in these chickens' feed, the reduction in breakages can be 20%.
Ricardo Guimarães spoke about bank financing for agribusiness that is already linked to the commitment to zero deforestation.
Panel 2: ESG – Regenerative, inclusive and resilient businesses
Then, there was the second panel of the day which focused on “ESG – Regenerative, inclusive and resilient business”. In the debate were André Valente, head of Raízen Sustainability; Guilherme Karam, Biodiversity Economics manager at Fundação Grupo Boticário; Luís Mosquera, vice-president, Legal & Government Relations at Siemens do Brasil, moderated by Cynthia Wolgien, director of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at WestRock Brasil.
The business sector seeks a behavioral change towards a more responsible use of water resources, provided for in the Sanitation Framework. A year ago, since the legal framework was sanctioned, four auctions were held to grant sanitation services, and the Law provides for the universalization of basic sanitation services by 2033.
In the same way that on the first day of Sustainable 2021, João Paulo Ferreira, president of Natura, warned that companies negligent with their carbon emissions could be considered uncivilized within a few years, Guilherme Karam, manager of Biodiversity Economics at Fundação Grupo Boticário , warned that enterprises that fail to take inclusion measures in relation to social and environmental factors will not survive in the market.
André Valente, from Raízen, brought information about the company's bioenergy parks that redefined the concept of sustainability of renewable energy, leaving the old sugar cane plants to create the parks. He warned of a point that emphasizes that “renewable does not mean sustainable”.
Panel 3 – Water Business Commitment
In the last Sustainable 2021 panel, on the afternoon of Thursday, 30th, the subject was “Business commitment to water – what has been done since the World Water Forum 2018”, with speakers Stela Goldenstein, country coordinator at the World Bank Group; Teresa Vernaglia, CEO at BRK Ambiental Participações SA; and Thais Gervásio, strategic leader of Ecolab's Water Business for Latin America (Ecolab), moderated by Rosane Santos, corporate director of Sustainability at Iguá Saneamento S/A.
The three speakers agreed that actions aimed at saving water depend on partnerships between the public and private sectors.
Teresa Vernaglia showed research from the Trata Brasil institute showing that women in conditions of poor sanitation have lower 25% scores than the average scores of other women in the competition.
Thais Gervásio warned that a collective discussion is necessary to try to find a solution to a problem that is ours. “Net shortages are real,” he warned.
Service
All lectures, debates and moderations of Sustentável 2021 are available on CEBDS channel on YouTube.
