Social

Local and traditional communities

The material topic local and traditional communities corresponds to the economic and social development of communities, directly or indirectly, resulting from the installation of the company and/or the implementation of local development programs, social inclusion and reduction of inequalities, investment in infrastructure and services for the community, as well as the company's approach in the community relationship process.

The topic includes negative impacts on communities associated with investment and divestment processes, social disturbances in general, risk of human rights violations in the community, and direct and indirect impacts such as: noise, odor, soot, demographic increase, increase of worker and vehicle traffic flow, and rising cost of living. Other aspects to be considered include impacts on indigenous and traditional communities such as fishing communities due to restriction zones, seismic surveys, support vessel traffic, and leaks.

It also includes impacts from the company's efforts to raise community awareness of accidents, including those caused by third parties, such as fuel theft, and to prevent violence or violation of human rights by the company's security forces in conflict situations. It also addressed positive impacts such as security and protection for local communities through dialogue between communities and public security forces.

Local communities

Our activities can have an impact on the social dynamics of the communities where we operate. These changes may occur in one or more of the following: livelihoods, economy, culture, community, political system, environment, health and well-being, individual and property rights, and people's fears and aspirations.

We manage the socioeconomic impacts and risks that may affect the communities located in the areas where our activities are carried out through environmental licensing or through the management of social and environmental risks and local Social Responsibility plans.

Environmental licensing

Environmental licensing is a legal obligation, in which we strictly follow all the guidelines and rules for its execution, such as Federal Law 6,938/81, Complementary Law no 140/2011 and CONAMA Resolutions nº 001/86 and no 237/97.

The environmental licensing process includes an analysis of the potential socioeconomic impacts in the region, considering the survey of all aspects of the activities and their respective impacts, according to the environmental impact studies and current regulations. For those impacts identified as negative, mitigation, monitoring or compensation measures are developed and implemented, while for positive impacts, actions are defined to enhance them.

The impact assessment is carried out for each venture or group of ventures, and the starting point is the identification of the activities inherent to each phase (Design, Installation, Operation and Decommissioning), characterizing the socioeconomic environment, qualifying the environmental risk, and proposing the respective monitoring, mitigation, or compensation measures, in addition to the Environmental Compensation provided for in the SNUC Law.

As part of the environmental licensing process, the environmental agency involves social participation in a consultative manner, aiming at the analysis aimed at issuing the license. Social participation takes place through public hearings held by us and with the participation of various bodies and communities located in the areas of influence of the enterprise or activity.

In these meetings, based on the disclosure of the environmental study, all sectors of society can express their doubts and, mainly, make proposals to be incorporated into the environmental licensing process, to mitigate and compensate for negative impacts and maximize positive ones.

Throughout the life cycle of the licensed enterprise, society's participation continues through the conditions of environmental licenses.

Among the constraints, the Environmental Education Programs (PEA) stand out, which are aimed at communities in the area of influence and are based on critical, dialogical and emancipatory training, as well as the Social Communication Programs (PCS), which maintain communication channels (Call Center, 0800 Channel and online information portals) that provide information on operational activities, and the social and environmental projects developed.

We currently have 175 assets undergoing installation or in operation. Of this total, 94% (165 assets) did some type of community consultation. These consultations may take place through public hearings or public meetings upon project implementation and/or through community committees or other social communication programs during the operation of the assets. Among the projects under development, we have 44 projects being implemented, of which 93% (41 projects) had their Environmental Impact Reports, for the purpose of public hearings, made available by the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), at the state environmental agencies and/or Petrobras website, in addition to having been distributed in the places indicated by the environmental agencies, such as city halls, Public Prosecution Offices, or Conservation Units, depending on the phase of the licensing process.

Petroleum Territories Project

An example of a project developed under the PEA is the Petroleum Territories Project. When mapping the social problems in the spaces they inhabit, the communities seek public authorities and enable solutions to these problems. Simply put, this is the purpose of the recently launched Social Atlas of Petroleum Territories publication, which makes one of the project's work methodologies tangible, with the objective of mitigating misinformation about royalties and special participations. The Environmental Education Project – Petroleum Territories (PEATP) is developed by Petrobras as part of the federal environmental licensing process, conducted by Ibama

The social atlas considers the physical space alongside cultural heritage, and ways for a community to intervene in these spaces. In the specific case of Social Atlas TP, in different stages, the positive and negative impacts of the arrival of royalties and special participations in each municipality were detected and action plans were generated for each community to act together with public bodies. The printed version oftheatlaswasmadeavailabletomembersofthe Citizen Vigil Centers in the 10 municipalities that are part of the project: Armação dos Búzios, Arraial do Cabo, Campos dos Goytacazes, Cabo Frio, Carapebus, Casimiro de Abreu, Macaé, Quissamã, Rio das Ostras and São João da Barra. PEA – Petroleum Territories directly targets the following stakeholders: quilombolas, fishermen, teachers, community leaders, government representatives, rural workers, and settlers, among others. It indirectly targets representatives of trade associations, cooperatives, trade unions and associations representing civil society, teachers' associations; university student associations, whether they are directly impacted or not, but they may support active roles in the productive and social scope of the selected municipalities. The digital version can be accessed through the project website: https://territoriosdopetroleo.eco.br/

Management of social and environmental risks in projects

In addition to the legal obligations of the environmental licensing process, we develop social and environmental risk management processes throughout the life cycle of our businesses. The main objective of processes for managing social and environmental risks is to prevent negative impacts resulting from the interaction between our activities, society, and the environment.

Social and environmental risks can also interfere with business objectives and the social license to operate. Although it is not a formal document like the environmental license, the social license refers to the acceptance of the company's practices and business by stakeholders and public opinion in general, obtained through approximation, creation, and maintenance of bonds of trust.

Social and environmental risk analyzes are carried out at all stages of the business life cycle.

Examples of social and environmental risks are: inappropriate use of onshore pipelines by community members, inconvenience caused by possible emissions, maintenance stoppages involving a significant number of workers, inconvenience due to increased traffic, as well as the exaggerated expectation of job creation by the community.

In 2022, 23 investment projects were submitted to Social Responsibility and HSE evaluation for the phase change, contemplating 100% of non-operated Joint Ventures (JVs), in the project phase, with Petrobras (WI) participation above USD 300 million for projects in the E&P segment and over USD 25 million for projects in the refining segment.

The analysis of investment projects and the consequent recommendations and risk identification happens through mitigation actions that are materialized, as the case may be, in changes to the project and procedures, in emergency response plans, in the process of monitoring occurrences and complaints from the community, in actions to promote the projects, and operational activities.

We also have specific systems for the decommissioning and divestment of assets, partnerships, and companies.

>> More detailed information about our social and environmental risk management process can be found in our Human Rights and Corporate Citizenship Supplement.

Local social responsibility plans

The diagnosis and social analysis of the communities in the areas covered by our operations are important tools for identifying and analyzing the possible socioeconomic impacts of our operations on the communities. In 2022, we finalized the socioeconomic diagnoses of communities and municipalities that were started in 2021 in the areas covered by REVAP and UN-BC. We carried out the diagnosis at RECAP, to provide input for social responsibility management, identifying and analyzing territorial potential and weaknesses, history of social impacts (positive and negative), and prospecting future scenarios associated with our activities in these territories.

The socioeconomic diagnosis consists of a translation of the reality experienced by a population in a given geographic space through the use of reliable and valid indicators that can be desegregated, and which permeate several dimensions of social reality. During this process, municipal socioeconomic indicators are consulted, as well as specific data from the communities mapped in the territory, such as social actors, traditional peoples and communities, the existence of conflicts, and the existence of impacts and risks arising from our activities. We also include the collection of primary data, through focus groups, survey research, social cartography and perception studies.

Real or potential reason for conflicts with communities are also pointed out. These included complaints about air pollution, noise, odors, and soil contamination; intrusion into areas and waterways; daily interferences, especially traffic and dust, including blocking access routes by communities; protests and complaints resulting from the generation of expectations, such as jobs, local improvements, financial compensation for communities; and clandestine diversion. One of our Sustainability Commitments is that 100% of our operations have socioeconomic diagnoses reviewed and finalized by 2025.

With the systematization of this information, social responsibility and community relationship plans are drawn up to provide answers to community questions from the business units. The plans are annual, and the process also provides for periodic reviews and updates. The actions provided for in the plans seek to respond to the social risks identified in the diagnosis and to increase the level of engagement of the communities with us, seeking to maintain permanent dialogue and expand community participation in the planning of actions.

In 2022, 23 local social responsibility plans were implemented, covering 100% of the refining, exploration, and production units. These plans were prepared by the multidisciplinary teams (coordinated by Social Responsibility and with the participation of partner areas in the units) and approved by the highest ranking positions of the units. The planned actions are monitored through a management system (JIRA), which tracks the percentages planned and carried out, in addition to allowing the insertion of evidence. Periodically, management meetings are also held with the head of the unit to report on the progress of activities and outline strategies for correcting deviations, if necessary. Through these practices, we were able to ensure that 98% of the planned activities were executed, surpassing the management established goal by 3 percentage points.