The current Corporate Social Environmental Responsibility Policy (PRSA) was approved by BNDES’s Board of Directors on October 24, 2019 and by its Advisory Board on November 7, 2019. The content of the policy is fully presented below.

Corporate Social Environmental Responsibility Policy of the BNDES System

Art. 1 - Social and environmental responsibility for the BNDES System is to value and integrate the social and environmental dimensions in its strategy, policies, practices and procedures, in all its activities, including its relationship with concerned parties: employees, clients and users of its products and services, communities impacted by its activities, suppliers and other partners.

II - Principles

Art. 2 - BNDES Corporate Social Environmental Responsibility Policy, aligned with the corporate statements – Purpose, Values, Principles, Mission, Vision and Code of Ethics, reaffirms the Bank’s historical commitment to the country’s sustainable development. The following principles guide BNDES’s actions:

• promoting sustainable development in an integrated territorial design, which includes the economic, social and environmental dimensions;
• full respect for human rights, with a positive agenda for including diversity and combating and repudiating all acts that imply any type of discrimination or violation of rights;
• ethics and transparency as pillars of action, providing dialogue with its different audiences and reporting on their decisions and activities, considering, whenever possible, the expectations and needs of concerned parties; and
• performance aligned with Brazilian public policies and standards, considering international standards and agreements that promote sustainable development, including to promote the transition to a low-carbon economy.

III - Guidelines

Art. 3 - The following social and environmental responsibility guidelines, together with other instruments, guide the strategic and operational actions of the BNDES System, including management of its socioenvironmental risks and possible impacts on society, the climate and the environment.

• support and contribute to the continuous improvement of public policies associated with sustainable development; 
• develop partnerships and share experiences with other organizations to promote sustainable development, social and environmental responsibility and the transition to a low-carbon economy, strengthening the dialogue between concerned parties and citizen participation in public management; 
• continuously develop and improve policies, practices and procedures, financial products and other instruments that incorporate socio-environmental and climate criteria and contribute to sustainable local, regional and national development; 
• implement socioenvironmental responsibility in its controls and risk management, observing the applicable legal framework, as well as in its strategic and operational planning processes;
• continuously develop and improve methodologies and other instruments for monitoring and evaluating the socioenvironmental and climate impacts and results generated by the Bank’s operations; 
• continuously improve knowledge and disseminate the culture of sustainable development, socioenvironmental responsibility and the transition to a low-carbon economy in the corporate environment of the BNDES System; 
• adopt policies for valuing employees and promoting their personal and professional development, emphasizing social-environmental commitment and respect for human rights; 
• induce the best practices of social and environmental responsibility in its suppliers, clients, accredited financial institutions and other partners, contributing to the advancement of sustainable development;
• apply sustainability requirements in its facilities and administrative activities, contributing to environment protection; and
• communicate internally and externally the most relevant socioenvironmental and climate actions with transparency of the results of the BNDES System.

IV - Strategy and governance 

Art. 4 - BNDES establishes, executes and discloses, in a transparent and accessible manner, plans to promote the effective application of the principles and guidelines of this policy, and the continuous improvement of its social and environmental risk management system, including awareness-raising and communication actions with concerned parties.

Art. 5 - Governance is essential to ensure the implementation of this policy, thus relying on the following elements: 

• Board of Directors; 
• Managing director responsible for this policy;
• Corporate committees for discussing, deliberating, monitoring and evaluating the inclusion of the socio-environmental dimension in its strategy, policies, practices and procedures, including the Social Environmental Sustainability and Territorial Development Committee (CSS), responsible for promoting and monitoring this policy; 
• Ombudsperson’s office; and
• Teams committed to socioenvironmental and climate issues.

V - Policy evaluation and revision

Art. 6 - This policy shall be evaluated and revised by the competent bodies at least every five years, with the participation of concerned parties.