For the second consecutive year, Itaú and ENGIE have renewed their partnership for compensating greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). This time, the agreement involves the purchase of carbon credits from the Lages Co-Generation Unit (UCLA), ENGIE’s biomass plant in the mountainous region of the state of Santa Catarina. The practice has been adopted since 2015 as part of its Carbon Neutral policy. The bank is to offset its emissions on a totally voluntary basis, 35,354 tons of CO₂ related to GHG emissions reported in 2018.

By comparison, the amount is equivalent to the average annual emissions of about 3.8 thousand Brazilians according to World Bank data, considering emissions of CO₂ per capita in Brazil in 2018. The Voluntary Cancelation Certificate is internationally recognized, publicly available and was issued by the Organ of the United Nations responsible for climate change (UNFCCC) on January 10, 2020. Leaders in their respective sectors of activity, Itaú and ENGIE are adopting converging initiatives in the direction of sustainability and the transition to a low carbon economy.

The Lages Methane Reduction  Project was chosen by the  Climate Commitment Program – 2019 Cycle. This is an Itaú and Natura initiative with the support of Instituto Ekos Brasil, focused on organizations interested in maximizing the compensation of their GHG emissions and supporting socio-environmental projects which promote the mitigation of the effects of climate change.

The Plant

UCLA, with an installed capacity of 28 MW, generates renewable thermal electric power using as fuel, timber waste produced in the Lages region. In this way, it avoids the methane gas emissions (a greenhouse gas with the potential for global warming 21 times greater than CO₂) which would be produced from the decomposition of wood. The residual ash from the plant is reused for fertilizing the soil in forestry and agricultural activities.

Among the enterprise’s socio-environmental contributions are the restoration of the headwaters of rivers in the Lages region, job workshops, community vegetable garden, donation of indigenous seedlings and botanical projects with local students. An important aspect of work involving this project is the support given to socially vulnerable youngsters. A notable contribution involves the Leoas da Serra outreach project, which benefits more than 400 girls and adolescents through activities involving sport, social inclusion and female empowerment. The project’s indoor soccer team was world champion of the sport in 2019.

“These sustainability differentials and the improvement in the quality of life of the population as well as the contributions of the Lages Project to fulfilling  the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals were critical to the conclusion of the agreement with Itaú”, declares the the Chief Energy Commercialization officer of ENGIE Brasil, Gabriel Mann dos Santos.