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Environmental, Social and Governance Report

We proudly present our 2020 Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Report, which details our ESG achievements and long-term aspirations. ESG values are the foundation of the truly sustainable growth we believe in. We know we are just starting out and that the path ahead is long, but this report stands as a testament of where we hope this road takes us.

We welcome you to follow us on this journey!

Seta ilustrativa do titulo The Ibitu Journey

Seta ilustrativa do titulo Who We Are?

Ibitu Energy is a key player in the generation and commercialization of 100% clean and renewable energy. Our 832 MW of installed capacity – equal to more than 4.4 million Brazilians' total consumption – is distributed across five wind farms in the states of Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, and Piauí and across three hydroelectric plants in the states of Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, and Santa Catarina.

Our name in Brazil's indigenous language of Tupi-Guarani means wind. We transform the force of wind and water into clean and sustainable energy. And in so doing, we keep approximately 1.2 million tons of CO2 from being released into our atmosphere. We seek growth and profits that remain true to our environmental, social, and corporate governance values. Our expansion includes harnessing wind, solar, and hybrid energy sources.

We endeavor to best meet our customers' expectations by providing personalized solutions to their concrete needs. Our team is committed to taking on this challenge and is well equipped to design, build, and operate wind and solar farms every step of the way: from initial prospecting of new plant and wind farm locations to energy commercialization. We are currently the second-largest wind energy generation company in terms of commercial operations in Brazil's open energy market.

We know how important our role is in the energy market, and we wish to be leaders in the global path to decarbonization through a portfolio of clean, accessible, and sustainable energy for all.

Seta ilustrativa do titulo A Message from the CEO

Ibitu Energy is changing the electricity sector with its 100% sustainable portfolio. We believe that sustainability is an integral part of how we do business. Growth alone is not enough. It is imperative that growth be experienced by all stakeholders. This reflects how we design the solutions that we offer our customers.

For us at Ibitu, generating real value means making sure our impact is positive across the board (financially,environmentally, and in terms of corporate governance) and for all our stakeholders, including employees, the communities we serve, our customers, and our shareholders. We are committed to a "green" transition to a better world. This is what inspires us.

Brazil is blessed with an abundance of renewable energy. We have the resources necessary to help our customers address their energy challenges and meet their long-term goals to achieve decarbonization and accelerate the shift to renewable energy. We increasingly see companies of all sizes and in every industry and sector seeking out renewable energy sources to make their businesses more competitive and sustainable.

Our commitment to sustainability and transparency is at the heart of everything we do. That is why it is our responsibility to lead by example and remain cognizant of the country's unique social and economic situation.

The purpose of our ESG Report sheet is to make both the objectives we have achieved thus far and the objectives we have for the future public and transparent. We want our purpose and values to serve as an example for other companies and for society, to thus inspire a broad movement to transform people's lives and positively impact the environment.

The electricity sector has been changing rapidly, and we at Ibitu are well-positioned to meet our customers' and society's needs. What we produce today powers the future.

Enjoy the read!

Gustavo Ribeiro

Seta ilustrativa do titulo The Ibitu Way

We at Ibitu recognize it is our employees who inspire us to go further, that it is our employees who truly make us great. Our employees are team players, committed to our mission and values, and have many years of experience in the energy sector.

Ibitu is guided by the values of safety, transparency, ethics, respect, and a sense of ownership. These values are part of our DNA and are present right from our first contact with a customer all the way up until we deliver the best solution to make their business more competitive.

We believe that renewable energy plays a fundamental role in the country's development, the move to more sustainable resources, and a better world. Renewable energy doesn't just provide light and power; it save lives, connects people, and us to share information. It advances science, spreads education, and promotes a more equal, inclusive, and sustainable society for all.

That is why we seek steady growth predicated on positive environmental, social, and corporate governance principles. Together, we are treading a path toward a shared purpose, certain that we are building a shared future.

We are proud to be Ibitu.

Seta ilustrativa do titulo Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Principles

Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) principles represent a change in sustainability that has been embraced by corporations and is revolutionizing the way business is conducted and value is generated. We must think about the world we wish to leave for future generations.

Discussions centered around corporate responsibility have reinforced the importance of good governance. Generating and commercializing renewable energy is no longer enough. The mindset has shifted; our principles must be aligned with environmental, social, and corporate governance standards.

In early 2020, ESG was forefront in the topics addressed at the World Economic Forum in Davos and became a worldwide priority. The world's largest financial institutions stressed the sheer importance of taking ESG metrics into account when doing business.

We are now experiencing a global pandemic of unparalleled proportions. This has led to a push to save jobs and to discussions about income and employment. The crisis has dealt a blow to nearly all of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition to directly affecting the population's health and the availability of services, the pandemic has increased poverty and social inequality, weakened the global food supply chain, decreased funding for social services, and proved detrimental to the environment.

This unprecedented situation has led to a consolidation in governance and to a greater appreciation for diversity, inclusion, sustainability, social needs, the environment, innovation, and more. Companies have come to incorporate social and environmental concerns into their decision making. Having a business model that respects the demands of consumers, employees, partners, the communities served, and investors is critical. Generating social and environmental value, making a positive impact, and reducing risks is a must.

In this journey towards sustainability, it is also important to ensure that brands are aligned with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that all countries are to implement by 2030.

Seta ilustrativa do titulo What Energizes Us

We faithfully believe in the role renewable energy plays in transforming society, which we so urgently and critically need. That is why we have predicated our growth on generating value for all our stakeholders. Our portfolio generates value for our customers and shareholders since we bring new investments, new job opportunities, greater income, and social and environmental development to the communities we come to serve.

We are sustainable, both in terms of operations by generating renewable energy and in terms of community initiatives designed according to the individual needs of every place we serve. Through social projects that focus on education – as we believe strongly in the power of education to transform – we strive to shape a society where every citizen can live up to their potential. This is how we at Ibitu are working to build a more sustainable society.

Today, we are addressing environmental, social, and corporate governance principles. And, though the road ahead may be challenging, we have mapped out our opportunities and aspirations for all three pillars.

Seta ilustrativa do titulo Environmental Achievements

The UN Global Compact

One of our crowning achievements was joining the UN Global Compact and formally committing to its 10 principles. We support this movement of companies engaged in pursuing actions and policies across the globe that are designed to build a better world through social responsibility and sustainability, contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This represents a joint effort among countries, companies, institutions, and civil society to guarantee human rights, bring an end to poverty, ensure access to quality education, abolish inequality, fight for justice, achieve gender equality, empower women and girls, and halt climate change.

Monitoring Flying and Gliding Animals

Preserving species is key to ensuring a balanced ecosystem. We monitor groups of birds and bats that either inhabit or pass through our wind farms. We analyze and quantify how they and their communities are impacted by documenting season-by-season richness, abundance, dominance, and evenness. We identify behaviors, plot the shelters and locations with the greatest activity, and map the risks for each species group.

In 2019, we registered 216 bird species and 75 bat species. For the first time, we spotted two migratory species from the Northern Hemisphere: Wilson's plover (Charadrius wilsonia), classified as vulnerable and facing a high risk of endangerment; and the spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularius).

Monitoring Wildlife

We have been monitoring fauna since 2014. The database we built allows us to analyze environmental changes to the many species' habitats. This project identifies the patterns of animal use of and movement across the landscape as well as the true presence of wild cats in the area surrounding the Riachão wind farm in Rio Grande do Norte.

We have also mapped areas where they take shelter, reproduce, draw water, and forage in addition to potential prey. We compare metrics on species' richness, abundance, and diversity in the wind farm area taken from different data sampling areas. We have observed 190 vertebrates, including 24 reptiles and amphibians, 137 different birds, 16 unique land mammals, and 13 bat species. Two of the land mammals observed are internationally endangered species: the Leopardus emiliae and the jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi). We also spotted a subspecies of the rusty-margined Guan, specifically Penelope superciliaris alagoensis.

Monitoring Land Animals and Birds

The areas surrounding our energy farms are home to communities of land vertebrates, specifically mammals, reptiles and amphibians, and birds. Our monitoring program assesses animal patterns and behavior. It gives us sufficient data to design strategies and actions to control, manage, and mitigate impacts by implementing specific conservation techniques for affected species through adaptive management.

One thousand eighty species were tracked over the course of the project, and 28 of those are endangered species that had not been tracked before.

Monitoring Erosion Focal Points

The soil, by its very nature, is constantly changing through a dynamic process known as erosion. Where erosion is extensive, arable and habitable lands are negatively affected. Since 2017, we have been monitoring erosion focal points by boat along the navigable waterways that encircle the Santa Clara hydroelectric plant in Minas Gerais. The boat stops at specific points so the team can survey the ground, identify priorities for land restoration planning and recovery.

We have identified 27 erosion focal points that we currently monitor, 22 of which have already been restored through ongoing, periodic maintenance.

Restoring and Monitoring Degraded Landscapes

Natural phenomena and human activity can change the original characteristics of our environment. These landscapes must be restored to allow the soil to be used once again for what nature had originally intended and to guarantee a more balanced and stable environment. Restoration projects for degraded landscapes involve forest restoration in the degraded area to ensure permanent preservation.

We first diagnose and quantify the areas that require reservation around the reservoir, then proceed to restore vegetation by planting native tree seedlings. Planting, periodic inspection, and maintenance are all part of the project.

In the Caldeirão farm in Piauí, just in the last four years, we have planted 6,978 native trees, including: aroeira (Myracrodruon urundeuva), angico branco (Anadenanthera colubrina), sabiá (Mimosa caesalpiniifolia), trumpet tree (Tabebuia impetiginosa), barriguda (Cavanillesia arbórea), mulungú (Erythrina velutina), baraúna (Schinopsis brasiliensis), pitomba (Talisia esculenta), and jatobá / stinking toe (Hymenea courbaril) in four different areas across a total of 92,400 m².

By planting native species, we stop the process of erosion, stabilize access slopes, and implement demobilization for site reclamation. We give back a healthier landscape by replanting native vegetation and we allow for nature to reclaim the original use of the land.

We monitor and carry out periodic maintenance in a natural regeneration area that measures approximately 6,530,000 m². In addition, we have planted over 310,000 seedlings of approximately 42 different native plant species.

Waste Management

The world has been airing its concerns about waste for a number of decades now as we have expanded our collective awareness of the environment. Our Solid Waste Management Program oversees proper waste management through all stages, from collection and handling to containment, temporary storage, internal and external transport, and treatment and/or proper disposal.

Reforestation

Reforestation is a set of activities that ensure a continuous supply of the forest's raw materials. We kicked this project off by planting 650 native plants, including aroeira (Myracrodruon urundeuva), angico branco (Anadenanthera colubrina), sabiá (Mimosa caesalpiniifolia), trumpet tree (Tabebuia impetiginosa), barriguda (Cavanillesia arbórea), mulungú (Erythrina velutina), baraúna (Schinopsis brasiliensis), pitomba (Talisia esculenta), and jatobá / stinking toe (Hymenea courbaril) in a 12,700 m² area in and around Caldeirão Grande in Piauí.

Seta ilustrativa do titulo Environmental Aspirations

Monitoring Erosion Focal Points

Our program to monitor erosion focal points at the Santa Clara hydroelectric plant in Minas Gerais was so successful that we are currently implementing the program at the Jauru hydroelectric plant in Mato Grosso to identify new focal points and restore degraded land.

Restoring and Monitoring Degraded Landscapes

The success of the Degraded Landscape Restoration Program at the Caldeirão Grande farm in Piauí will be adopted at our other wind farms. Our plan is to plant new seedlings of native tree species and, in so doing, to halt erosion and offer a new landscape for the areas neighboring our operations.

Waste Management

Since good solid waste management is key to preserving the environment and ensuring the population's health, we will be setting up the Solid Waste Management Program at the Santa Clara hydroelectric plant in Santa Catarina and the Jauru hydroelectric plant in Mato Grosso. Everything should always come full circle: reduce, reuse, recycle.

Seta ilustrativa do titulo Social Achievements

Sustainable Education Program

This is an extremely important project for us and will be guided by a solid policy of sustainability, the Ministry of Education's common core, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Education is an agent of change to shape a society where every citizen can live up to their potential. That is why, to show our support for a developed society, Ibitu started the Sustainable Education Program, a key social development program.

It consists of social programs that improve the learning process and the quality of education by training teachers, encouraging learning, making much-needed adjustments to educational spaces, ensuring basic health, improving the learning environment, and investing in income generation, art, culture, and sports.

The beneficiaries of this program include teachers, children between the ages of 6 and 15 in elementary and middle school, teens 16 and up in high school, and the community at large through the project's initiatives, the Young Apprentices Program, job training programs, income generation, and art, culture, and sports programs.

Environmental Education Program

There are countless benefits to sustainable education, starting with citizens who learn to be more critical and aware. Our program teaches environmental education based on the COHID-IBAMA educational guidelines. The program brings positive changes to the local environment through teaching, training, and raising people's awareness. Different social groups are invited to reflect on and rebuild their relationship to the environment.

To encourage more a pro-ecological mindset among individuals and groups, the program is designed to ensure that each and every participant is involved in managing natural resources and working toward a more balanced environment. The program also encourages discussions about local environmental needs that draw in and upon the local population.

These discussions ensure environmental information is available to all and they level the playing field in terms of understanding both the complex relationship between society and nature as well as social, economic, political, legal, ethical, cultural, and ecological relationships. In total, we have taught over 150 people, including more than 30 fishermen who have been trained and are ready to set up and tend to gardens, and 50 fisherman and farmers who have been trained to set up a nursery for native seedlings and get environmental licensing.

By 2021, through another two training programs, 60 fishermen will have learned to protect water sources and headwaters and to treat focal points of erosion. This project is supported by over 15 government agencies and non-governmental organizations.

Community and Communication Program

We set up our Community and Communication Program to ensure ongoing communication with the communities surrounding the Santa Clara hydroelectric plant in Minas Gerais. As part of the program, we make environmental information available and keep the lines of communication open to answer any questions the communities may have. Transparency is our priority.

The communication channel allows community members to get information on environmental and social activities in the community and to raise the communities' awareness of these topics. In addition to supporting better integration and more widely available information, through this program, we develop positive relationships with local communities. Activities include meeting with associations, training courses, lectures, announcing environmental actions at public events, designing and distributing educational materials, lecture series, and discussion groups. Altogether, these activities reach 6,000 people.

We also communicate with local communities through specific meetings at events, offering guided visits of the plant to students and teachers from the region's public schools, and handing out nearly 6,000 information pamphlets. We also make radio announcements, distribute workbooks for environmental projects, and offer outdoor movie viewings. Every aspect of our communication focuses on environmental education and awareness-raising.

Seta ilustrativa do titulo Social Aspirations

Community Communication Program

Our extremely successful Community Communication Program has delivered excellent results. We are looking to replicate it in the communities in all six states in which we operate and, as ever, we are committed to respecting the unique needs of the communities where new projects will be implemented.

Environmental Education Program

We plan to expand our environmental education projects and thereby ensure even more extensive environmental restoration by involving new and different stakeholders.

Youth Employment

Our goal is to promote a series of lectures in schools and universities that introduce young people to different career options and areas of work. We hope to raise awareness and pique the interest of young people in the many types of jobs that exist and in their employment prospects.

Seta ilustrativa do titulo Corporate Governance Achievements

Internal Audit and Risk Management

Internal audits ensure efficiency in corporate governance, risk management, and internal controls. We have set up departments to bring corporate governance levels up to standards deemed necessary for recognition by key stakeholders and for tapping into new markets and financial products.

Committees

As part of the decision-making process, different committees are entrusted with the important task of discussing, assessing, and recommending topics to the company's executives and board of directors. These committees are: HR, Technology, Finance, Ethics, Risks, and New Businesses.

Advisory Board

Our advisory board plays a critical role in mentoring and advising. It is made up of esteemed individuals with vast experience in the Brazilian energy sector. The role of the board is to advise the board of directors and shareholders on decisions.

Seta ilustrativa do titulo Corporate Governance Aspirations

Carbon Credit and Renewable Energy Certificates

In our journey toward contributing to decarbonization, our current and future hydroelectric plants and wind farms will undergo the REC (Renewable Energy Certificate) process. Once certified, they will be authorized to generate carbon credits for projects registered under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

Seals and Certifications

As further evidence of our goal to pursue growth by embracing the strictest social, environmental, and corporate governance criteria, Ibitu has been making structural changes to meet the requirements necessary to obtain various ESG seals and certifications. We are currently preparing to submit applications for the Pro-Ethics Seal from the Brazilian Office of the Federal Controller General (compliance) as well for ISO 37001 certification (anti-bribery management systems), ISO 19600 certification (compliance management systems), and ISO 45001 certification (occupational health and safety).