Brazil
We held the announcement ceremony for the 44 projects chosen in the 2010 Public Selection under the Petrobras Environmental Program (PEP), this Tuesday (10/26). This edition will earmark R$78.2 million for initiatives across the country.
Of the 44 selected projects, 13 are from the Northeast, 12 from the Southeast, 6 from the Midwest, 6 from the South, and 6 from the North. Besides these, one project has a regional scope (North), while another nationwide coverage.
In total, there were 928 candidate projects. Based on criteria that had been pre-determined in the public selection statute, 780 entries were considered valid. Most of the entries came from the Southeast (289), followed by Northeast (180), South (139), North (98), and the Midwest (65), in addition to nine projects of national and regional scope. The states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais were the ones that entered the most projects.
Held every two years, the selection is part of one of the strategic actions under the Petrobras Environmental Program, which also include endorsements, reinforcing environmental organizations and their networks, and disseminating information on sustainable development.
The projects that were picked focus mainly on one of three performance lines: surface and underground water management (13 projects); the recovery or conservation of coastal, marine, and freshwater species and environments(15 projects); and carbon fixation, and avoided emissions (16 projects). All initiatives must foster environmental education, aiming at conscientious consumption, energy efficiency, and natural resource conservation.
A Focus on the Third Sector
The Public Selection for the 2010 PEP was launched in June. Projects entered under the responsibility of non-profit legal entities operating in the Third Sector, such as associations, foundations, NGOs, public interest civil societies, and other social organizations were accepted. Projects were allowed to ask for sponsorship worth up to R$3.6 million and to be carried out in 18 to 24 months.
Caravans (free and on-site workshops) were held in 29 cities to provide clarification to Third Sector institutions about the roadmap Petrobras uses on how to prepare environmental projects. The caravan visited all Brazilian states, in addition to Brasilia, and occurred from May to July this year. Some 1380 people participated in the Caravans. In addition to the on-site workshops, over 1,600 people were served online over the period of registration.
Project selection
The projects underwent an administrative and technical screening, were submitted to a selection committee and, ultimately, to a governing council for analysis. All of them were assessed by Company professionals, technical and outside specialists, Government representatives, and representatives from the Third Sector, universities, and the press.
The assessment criteria include alignment to the PEP guidelines, the project's transforming potential and pioneering spirit, cooperation among entities via networking, ability to set the community into motion, and social and environmental impact, among others.
Visit the Petrobras Environmental Program website to check out the list of projects selected in the 2010 public selection: www.petrobras.com.br/ppa2010 (in Portuguese only).
