Sustainable development in the largest tropical forest in the world is a reality that generates business, jobs and income with standing trees, shows the “Study of Good Business Practices in the Amazon”, made by CEBDS (Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development) in partnership with Idesam.
The study analyzed 143 initiatives, from 53 companies, and delved into 11 of them to point out scalable and replicable actions that combine production and preservation. The initiatives involve more than 30 partners and directly benefit 50,000 people with sustainable job and income generation.
Main results of the study:
- Preserving and producing in the Amazon are not antagonistic verbs;
- Successful initiatives: bioeconomy, restoration of degraded areas, development of startups, professional training, sustainable and higher productivity agriculture, artificial intelligence in preventing deforestation;
- Biggest challenges: skilled labor; sustainable income guarantee; structural bottlenecks; logistics; production flow; impact monitoring; technologies and arrangements appropriate to the region;
- Lessons learned: transparent dialogue; commitment of top business leadership; building and valuing local capacities; balance between quick results for engagement and the time required for local development; flexible methodologies to the local reality; participatory/inclusive governance (with local institutions, government, community leaders); anchoring in local demands and vocations.
Companies with actions highlighted in the study: Amaggi, Amazon, Bayer, Dow, Energisa, Michelin, Microsoft, Natura, Neoenergia, Suzano and Vale.
