Neoenergia S A : Project implemented in partnership with BNDES and conducted by the United Nations Development ...

​​​​

The Teles Pires hydroelectric plant, controlled by Neoenergia, started the Project Accelerating Development. The company's investments are directed to train local representatives in the municipalities of Alta Floresta and Paranaíba (MT) and Jacareacanga (PA), seeking to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),created by the United Nations (UN) in the 2030 Agenda. The initiative is implemented in partnership with the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

By 2023, local development diagnostic processes will be developed in the light of the SDGs and training and advisory activities to qualify public and private agents - municipalities, private sector, social movements, academia, small producers, among others. This qualification is focused on the creation of mechanisms for financing actions, the implementation and strengthening of a mechanism for continuous dialogue in the region and the preparation of multiannual plans (PPAs), a document that brings medium-term government planning to these municipalities. Assisting in the implementation of public policies and programs aligned with sustainable development, the company hopes to promote inclusive economic growth, transparency and social participation.

" Neoenergia is committed to the 2030 Agenda and acts with the corporate purpose of contributing to the sustainable development of the country. Through the Project Accelerating Development, we want, in addition to provoking direct socio-environmental benefits around the Teles Pires plant, to foster citizen action of the population, organizations and local publicrepresentatives", says the Superintendent of Operations and Hydraulic Engineering of Neoenergia, José Paulo Werberich.

The territorialization strategies of the 2030 Agenda will be implemented throughout the project, taking into account local contexts to establish the most appropriate ways of implementing and monitoring indicators of the SDDs. This is because, although the 17 objectives are universal, executing them based on regional characteristics can give more effectiveness to their application. "Based on the survey of socioeconomic data, environmental assets and the synergy of the region's institutional actors, the project can enhance the productive chains of strategic sectors and generate favorable conditions to increase the quality of life of the population," explainsTeles Pires, director of the Teles Pires, UHE.

The initiative was based on three products. The first, already in place, provides for support to municipal entities through training of managers of municipalities in the preparation of the PPA, monitoring indicators and identifying how the Sustainable Development Goals can be achieved more quickly. The municipalities will be accompanied and certified. This phase also includes the training of councilors and advisors of the municipal councils on Agenda 2030 and SDS and the realization of distance training for multipliers on these topics.

In the second half of 2021, two more stages will begin. One of them prioritizes the financing of activities to accelerate compliance with the SDGs, in which training, edict and studies will be carried out to delineate priority production chains in the region. The other aims to map social and business leaders in municipalities and develop a strategy to engage them in a permanent dialogue, stimulating democratic social participation and minimizing conflicts.

SDS

The Sustainable Development Goals were established in September 2015 as a global plan to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger and act to protect the planet. There are 169 targets to be achieved by 2030, distributed in 17 SDCs, which apply to governments, companies and organizations. Neoenergia incorporated the SDGs into its business strategy, prioritizing numbers 7 (providing clean and affordable energy) and 13 (combating climate change) and, as a direct contribution, SDGs 6 (ensuring clean water and sanitation), 9 (building inclusive industries, innovation and resilient infrastructure),15 (protecting terrestrial ecosystems) and 17 (strengthening the means of implementation and revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development).

Social and environmental projects

Aligned with the SDDS, the Teles Pires plant provides clean energy and carries out other social and environmental projects that benefit surrounding populations and biodiversity. The project invested R$ 10 million for the protection and preservation of the Amazon Forest. Since its inauguration in 2015, they have benefited through the Forest Recomposition Program and the implementation of the Permanent Protection Area (APP) 20,000 hectares, an area equivalent to 28,000 soccer fields. By 2030, 2,000 hectares of native seedlings are planned to be planted.

In addition, the Environmental Education Program, an integral part of the Basic Environmental Project of the Teles Pires EPP, was developed to stimulate the population to participate in the social control process and have an active participation in environmental licensing and stimulate the development of an individual and collective ecological posture. The revitalization of the rural settlement of São Pedro in Mato Grosso is another project benefited from the preservation of water springs, reforestation and increased milk production, with the aim of making local production sustainable for the benefit of 600 families, which total about 3,000 people. Under the Basic Indigenous Environmental Plan, the Apiaká, Kayabi and Munduruku indigenous communities benefited from the construction of 14 flour houses and activities to strengthen traditional subsistence agriculture.​