The year was marked by Covid-19 pandemic, which imposed the need for social distancing and increased the demand for emergency actions aimed at assisting vulnerable people. In view of the challenges, Neoenergia Institute, the company’s social arm has allocated resources to donations for several initiatives throughout the country and digitalized part of its projects, training representatives of non-governmental organizations through online training. The highlights include the acceleration of NOGs and impact businesses through Impactô Program, the delivery of meals under Pessoas e Negócios Saudáveis Project and donations of R$ 600 thousand to Transforma Brasil Fund and R$ 150 thousand to institutions operating in Pantanal, a biome hit in 2020 by the largest fires in the last 50 years.  

"When the pandemic arrived in Brazil, we had to stop everything for a few days to think about the new steps we needed to take. We had two certainties: the first was that the projects could not stop, especially those that assisted the most vulnerable people and that would rely even more on our participation. And the second is that we would need to assist more people, on an emergency basis, who were severely affected by the sanitary and economic crisis that was beginning from that moment on", says Renata Chagas, Neoenergia Institute's CEO. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, R$ 600 thousand have been allocated to the Transforma Brasil Fund, which provided assistance during the pandemic to hundreds of families in Bahia, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, with the delivery of 12 thousand basic food baskets. In addition, 70 thousand meals were delivered under the Pessoas e Negócios Saudáveis Project (Healthy People and Business) in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, benefiting around 2.5 thousand people and training 23 local entrepreneurs to produce meals. In the annual Solidary Christmas action, 1,098 basic food baskets and hygiene kits were delivered to families from communities in the areas of influence of the wind farms in Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte. 

Focusing on organizations working to combat  covid-19 and the effects of the pandemic, Impactô Program has accelerated 16 NGOs and impact businesses in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. All of them received training and the contribution of R$ 20 thousand as emergency aid. In addition, under DROPs program, in partnership with Porto Social, 35 social initiatives that work directly with communities in Recife were trained through remote classes. Also through online courses, the Caravana Energia que Transforma project benefited 149 cultural managers in Rio Grande do Norte.  

The Education in Times of Pandemic was launched in 2020, a page within the Balcão de Ideias online platform to enable teachers and school managers throughout Brazil to share good learning practices and find information on education. Neoenergia Institute had the involvement of 489 education professionals from the municipal education networks of nine municipalities in Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, São Paulo and Bahia, for training under the project. 

PRESERVATION AND BIODIVERSITY

Among the initiatives carried out this year with a focus on the environment preservation is the donation of R$ 150 thousand for Instituto Arara Azul and SOS Pantanal NOGs, in order to minimize the effects of the fires that have devastated 27% of the Pantanal. Also in 2020, Neoenergia Institute advanced with the third stage of the Flyways project, conducting censuses of 22 species of migratory and shorebirds birds, in addition to the launch of a digital coloring book for children.  

Coralizar project was strongly impacted by the pandemic, due to the impossibility of carrying out an expedition that was scheduled to Rocas Atoll. Even so, the studies were started on the

AN EYE ON THE FUTURE

The call notice for Transformando Energia em Cultura, in Rio Grande do Norte, received a record number of 174 projects enrolled, from which 15 were selected for execution in 2021. The projects focus on the inclusion of children and young people in social vulnerability and contribute to the reduction of inequalities, through art for the generation of employment and income. 

Neoenergia Institute promotes initiatives aimed at contributing to the improvement of the quality of life in the communities where the company operates, in various areas, such as training and research, art and culture, biodiversity and climate change. The projects collaborate directly to the achievement of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to which Neoenergia is committed.