The environmental policy for the Brazilian electric power sector was first established on the II Director Plan of Environment of the Electric Power Sector (II PDMA) - 1991/1993 (vols. I and II), and the observation over social and environmental aspects inherent to electricity generation, transmission and distribution activities has been continuously evolving in the last decades.
 

Changes in the institutional model for the electric power sector have determined the creation of an exclusive environmental policy for our companies. The first version was approved in 2006 by the Superior Council of the Eletrobras System (Consise).
 

To meet our strategic reorganization and repositioning process requirements, our Environmental Policy was improved on the second semester of 2009, in the scope of our Environment Subcommittee (SCMA). This reviewed version was approved on January 2010.
 

In August 2011, the SCMA decided that there was a need for formulating complementary thematic guidelines to the principles and general guidelines of the policy then in force, expanding its scope to contemplate through specific guidelines the main themes and subjects of our daily environmental management practices.
 

Seven priority themes were identified for which the guidelines should be formulated by technical groups within the SCMA based on our accumulated knowledge: biodiversity, environmental communication, environmental education, environmental and social-patrimonial management of reservoirs, climate change, interference with indigenous communities and involuntary resettlement of populations affected by electric energy ventures.
 

Among the seven priority themes, five have been completed and presented at the second revision of the Environmental Policy which was approved by our Board of Executive Officers on May 16, 2013.
 

The priority theme resettlement of affected populations was recently incorporated into the Environmental Policy, giving rise to its third revision, which was approved on January 4, 2016 by our Board of Executive Officers. The priority theme interference in indigenous communities is still under development for incorporation into the policy in a future revision.
 

In the third policy review, the same premises adopted in the formulation of previous versions were observed:
 

• as for the concept, the term "environmental" is used in its broad sense, covering the social, physical and biotic dimensions; 

• as for the application and scope, the policy covers all interactions between corporate activities and the environment, with emphasis on the operational dimension of those activities where the environmental areas of our companies are inserted; 

• on the form, the principles and guidelines are expressed through concise statements covering all issues - values, themes and actions – related to the environment theme present in environmental management practiced by federal public companies that operate in various segments of the electric power sector in Brazil and abroad.

   

The Environmental Policy is structured in three levels: principles, general guidelines and thematic guidelines. The principles and general guidelines summarize the essence of our commitment to environment and the thematic guidelines seek to give them a proper operational dimension to the needs arising from environmental management practices.