Hello, good morning and welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to our Panorama Itaúsa 2023 event. You know me already. I've been here for many years. My name is Juliana Rosa. I'm feeling at home, and it's an honor to be here hosting this event once again. This is an event that we've had for 23 years, and it represents our commitment to transparency with our shareholders, investors, and society. We're going to be talking about Itaú as we do every year, and as we just saw in this wonderful video, we are present across Brazil with the same purpose, which is contributing towards the sustainable development of our country. Our agenda will be split into two parts. First, Alfredo Setúbal, CEO and Investor Relations Officer at Itaúsa, will talk to us about Itaúsa's capital allocation strategy.
We're also going to be talking about the history of creating value and some perspectives for the holding. Still in this session, we're going to have Marcelo Furtado, the Head of Sustainability from Itaúsa, joining us, and he'll tell us about how our sustainability strategy has been evolving and also some news from the recently created Itaúsa Institute. During the second section, Alfredo and I will moderate a conversation on ESG as a business strategy. We're going to have the CEOs from Itaú Unibanco, Dexco, CCR, Aegea, and Copa Energia. Your participation is welcome. It's always valuable to get comments from our listeners. You can send us your messages through the message box, or you can also tweet at us using #PanoramaItaúsa. Now, I'd like to invite Alfredo Setúbal to join us here. Welcome, Alfredo. We're missing the applause here, I guess.
Hi, Juliana.
It's great to be here with you, and I hope we have a great event.
Yes, it will be wonderful. It's great to be here together. We've gone through so much together, right, Alfredo? It will be great to have this moment to understand how we're doing, to have a general outlook of the company. We can start by talking about Itaúsa's portfolio that has been built over the last few years and how relevant it is for Brazil and Brazilians. We saw this beautiful video starting our event, and I'm going to ask Alfredo to share with us some reminders about the investments that Itaúsa has made in the last few years and give us a vision of the current moment for this portfolio.
Well, Juliana, I think we've been working on Itaúsa's new portfolio for about 10 years.
We started selling Itautec's operations, right? Working with computer science. Then we sold Elekeiroz. Starting in 2017, we began participating more actively in buying stakes in companies. Since then, we've invested BRL 11 billion, which is a lot for Brazil. We've invested in NTS, Alpargatas, Aegea, CCR, and I think you saw all of that in our opening video. It showed the stakes that we had in these companies, these brands, and how present they are in Brazilian lives. I mean, they're leading companies, they're strong brands and industries that represent a huge share of our GDP. We have a stake of 12% of the Brazilian GDP, which is very relevant for our economy. I think we're building up that portfolio, and I think we're very pleased with that.
Yes, it's great to see how varied of a portfolio it is. It's very diverse. Diversification is also important considering all the changes that we've seen in our results. We see that the results from Itaúsa also have been resilient, as we said. We're experiencing constant changes, but these results have been resilient across all kinds of scenarios. I'd just like you to tell us a little bit about how helpful being diverse is and how much that reflects in dividend payouts.
Well, Itaú Unibanco is the major anchor for Itaúsa. We have a huge presence across Brazil, and as you know, it represents a large percentage of our assets. Now, the big news in the last few years have been privatizations and concessions. We went into infrastructure with investments in CCR, NTS and Aegea.
They tend to be more resilient areas of the Brazilian economy. Considering that there are opportunities with concessions in privatizing, it's great to invest in infrastructure and long-term investments. CCR and Aegea each investing about BRL 10 billion to meet their contractual obligations. They're making huge investments, and Itaú Unibanco has been doing very well with its results, with the new competition it faces from the digital world. Its culture is geared towards that. I think the bank has also been doing very well. In more industrial areas with Dexco and Alpargatas, it's a little bit more difficult. Our economy hasn't been as strong. We see that the construction materials industry has been affected negatively by high interest rates, so that's reflected in Dexco. We see a reduction in sales.
Alpargatas also has been harmed by this reduced consumption in the Brazilian economy, but I think we have very strong brands regardless, so we're very well-positioned. In terms of dividend payouts, I mean, today we're having less than we would like, but we believe that since companies have reduced leverage and reduced investment levels, then this will come in the future.
Yes, it's interesting how the holding is always changing. It always has new things, so we see that there's been a fast movement towards diversification. Itaúsa has been investing in many different industries, and of course, it takes some time to digest all of it. If you can tell us a bit about what the holding is doing right now, what its current focus and priorities are. We've been getting a lot of questions about that.
Of course, we'd like to thank people for participating.
Yes, of course. Please send us your messages and questions through social media. We're open to all of you. Yes, be sure to take part. We have Rosalie and Joyce watching us and sending us questions about that, about the current moment that the holding is in. Well, I think we concluded the first investment cycle with our acquisition of a stake at CCR late last year. Now, we have to keep track of all of these investments, let them mature. We have companies at different maturity levels, considering governance, the business, how much is invested. I think that we need to understand each company better, and that's what we've been doing.
We have a large area in Itaúsa to keep track of these investments and monitor them because we need to have better conditions, and we need to understand if these companies are doing well, if the valuations were correct, when we should step in and out of other investments. Right now, I think we're consolidating our portfolio and reducing our debt. We have a debt reduction agenda, which is very important right now considering the high interest rates.
Yes, we've seen in the news that Itaúsa is focused now on doing cash management and deleveraging itself. We also received questions about this. Questions were asked by Davidson and Paulo. If you could tell us a bit about what your focus has been when it comes to cash management and deleveraging.
Yes, we had used, you know, the sales of XP shares.
From the beginning, we said that this was not a strategic investment. Our investments in the financial industry have been through Itaú Unibanco. We've been reducing our stake with XP in the last few years and using these resources for debt amortization. As I said, we divested BRL 11 billion. We've had debt levels of BRL 8 billion, but now we're at BRL 5 billion. We still have some XP shares to sell, and this will be done over the next months when the prices are better. This will go down because we're now paying BRL 1 million in interest a year, which is too high for Itaúsa, considering that it survives based on the dividends that it receives. We have to reduce our debt level to a more appropriate one and consolidate our portfolio.
We'll have to actively manage our portfolio, maybe buy and sell in the future. Of course, we have to maintain a dynamic portfolio. I think the most important thing for our shareholders is that we've been continuing our practices of distributing dividends from Itaú Unibanco, and dividends they receive from other companies are used for debt amortization, taxes, and so on.
Yes. We were showing on our screen that we have an AAA rating, right? Meaning it's super safe.
Yes, we have AAA ratings from the three main rating agencies that cover Itaúsa. They're international rating agencies, and we have many debentures in the market. Our debt is not bank-based, it's capital market debt. That gives a lot of confidence for investors to know that, you know, cash management and amortization is complying to its obligations.
Yes.
Many people are also asking about the creation of value in this portfolio. Many shareholders are asking about that. We've talked about the current moment that we're going through in the holding, so it's important to talk about value creation and what you're doing in that sense.
Yes. Well, Itaúsa is a publicly traded company. It's a holding with many shareholders who went to B3 to invest. Yes, we have a lot of young investors, many women are also joining the financial market. Yes, 1/3 of our shareholders, our individual shareholders are women. So we have some very interesting data. 95% of Brazilian municipalities have an Itaúsa shareholder. So we have a lot of capillarity with small and medium-sized shareholders, and of course, this gives us more responsibility. Yes, the level of trust is important, right? Yes.
That's due to our governance, due to good dividend payouts, and good investments made by our holding. Fortunately, we've had good returns. If we look at our shares performance and the dividends paid out, we see that the total return for Itaúsa is at 220% over the last 10 years. It's significant. It's high above CDI, Ibovespa, and many other indicators. Unibanco is the main company. It represents 235%. NTS was the first investment that we made in 2017, and it was fantastic. It was being privatized from Petrobras at the time. It was a time in which Petrobras was facing many challenges with debt, with the Lava Jato investigation. This led to a valuation of 400%. We've received everything we invested in it back through dividends.
I think we've seen how we generate value for our shareholders. Copa Energia was a relatively recent investment, but it's already had 174% growth in cash generation. The same went for Aegea. I think we've been able to create a portfolio that generates value for our shareholders. Like I said, I think dividends are still not at the levels we would expect because some of these companies received large investments, but we are very confident that it's worth investing in them and that they will pay high dividends to compensate for this entire time in which dividends are lower. Itaúsa is a holding. It doesn't have a factory or anything. It survives off of the payouts from the investments made.
This means that we need to keep our holding at a very low debt level and receive dividends to meet our financial expenses, our tax payments. Right now, I think we are in a little bit of a valley.
Yes. We're talking about creating value in our portfolio, so it would be interesting to talk about how much Itaúsa is also generating value for society. When it comes to taxes, the Itaúsa group is generating returns for society as well, right? It's also important to mention that.
Yes. As I said, we have a stake in companies that represent 12% of the Brazilian GDP. If we add up all of the employees, that's about 160,000 direct jobs, over BRL 30 billion paid in taxes in 2022. That means that we're also providing great returns for society.
When it comes to taxes, it's even higher than the dividends we pay out. The state takes a big share of it, right?
Yes. They're almost like a partner.
A majority partner, maybe.
Exactly. Now, if you're watching us, we see that many people have been sending us their questions like Mizael, Bruno, Joaquim, Felipe, Ruth. What many people are asking, Alfredo, is about what we can think about the holding's future from now on. You've talked about what we're building for the future. What can you tell us?
Well, I think first we're going to reduce debt. I think that's the main thing. We see that interest rates in Brazil have been getting higher, so it will come down slightly, maybe 0.5% at every Copom meeting, but we see that interest rates will continue at around 10%.
Yeah, especially now with the U.S. dollar up, war here and there, post-pandemic.
Yeah, that's correct. We still see high interest rates in the Brazilian economy, so we do have to lower our debt, otherwise dividends don't grow concurrently with the interest rates. Focus on the debt and managing our portfolio in the moment of each company, having a more active management position, and always looking at the opportunities for new investments. Right now it's pretty hard, higher interest rates, higher risk in Brazil and abroad. To get the right returns in a more challenging environment is definitely harder. We don't really have any major expectations for major investments considering this scenario in the upcoming years. However, we may review our positions, reduce some, increase the others depending on the opportunities.
We're always on the lookout for, let's call it an active management of our portfolio.
I hear there's a new campaign, and we're going to share that with you because when we hear Alfredo speaking, we can realize that the strategies are very clear for Itaúsa. It makes even more sense for us to look at the new institutional campaign together, and I'm sure that based on that, you'll be able to understand that even more after watching the video. It's a beautiful campaign. Now let's talk a little bit more about the ESG strategy. Today we have with us Marcelo Furtado, he's the Head of Sustainability at Itaúsa. Marcelo, come join us on stage. Welcome, Marcelo. Everybody's really excited, sending us a lot of questions. I'd like to know a little bit more.
We've shown the strategy with the new campaign. We've announced the new ESG strategy for the holding, and obviously many things have evolved since then.
There's a lot of questions coming in about this. If you can talk to us about that and say good morning to everyone.
Yes, definitely. Good morning to everyone, to the audience, shareholders, and our entire team.
Yeah, definitely. There's a lot of people here supporting you so that you can talk about such important work in ESG. We have questions from Felipe, from Ivete, from Eduardo, Fatima, Patricia. A lot of questions about the ESG intelligence at Itaúsa. Can you dive into that?
Oh, definitely. It's a pleasure. Let me put this into context. I'd start off that the ESG strategy, sustainability strategy of Itaúsa is definitely connected to the world that we're living in.
It's a very challenging world where we have conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, and flooding down south, the drought up in the Northeast. That's a lot of responsibility and opportunity, and structuring the sustainability and the ESG strategy at Itaúsa is definitely about how we can navigate that binomial of responsibility and opportunity. Be it through the impact through the holding or an impact through the incredible portfolio that Alfredo just talked about, and the governance pillar, which is always what structures all of these initiatives. We have a number of news to share. Nothing about commitment and promises is great, but executed and implementing is even better.
Yeah, that's what Alfredo always says. It's walking the talk, right?
Yes, definitely execution is hard.
Execution risk, be it through an acquisition or implementation of an ESG project, considering the sizes that we're considering, it's always difficult. Brings in some barriers. We see some resistance on one side and support on the other.
That's normal, right? Let's just face it.
Yes, it's definitely part of the company's DNA, right, Marcelo?
Yeah. On a sign downstairs, when I came up, there's a little sign saying the Itaú Cultural Institute is realizing the dream of the father Alfredo and its capacity to realize that. It's a mix of dreams and the ability, capability to make things happen. In the case of our strategy, which is recent, we've been doing that for seven months now. We've already started the carbon inventory, so we can identify the Itaúsa emissions profile and how to build the journey for decarbonization.
We're making a very important announcement to all of you. It's the commitment of buying renewable energy for the entire Itaúsa building. Solar energy, wind energy, that will be the energy we will use. Training the whole team on sustainability and in top management and the board of directors, the trends of where the world is going and the main indicators and topics that Brazil has to pay attention to. We're also doing very important work in bringing that ESG lens into when we're doing the risk matrices and when we're going to review the materiality matrix. When we're talking about culture with diversity, meaning we're integrating all these elements. Soon, we've already received approval from the board to adhere to the Global Compact. It's a number of different operations within the holding company.
In the companies we invest in, and that's an important advancement, is creating indicators and metrics in ESG to look at the performance of our portfolio. More importantly than just choosing which indicators, it's about how we do that. First of all, in an integrated way in Itaúsa, with all the areas and departments of Itaúsa that are dialoguing and talking about the best indicators and best metrics, but also dialoguing with the companies we invest in so that we can discuss, for this industry, for this company, what's the best metric and indicator that we can use to ensure that that promise of working towards sustainable development and improving the environment and the social aspects and as well as governance, that will be possible.
Most important for last here, in talking about the 2023 scenario, it's the launch of the Itaúsa Institute, which will not only be known in history as the beginning of a journey, but an institute that wants to dialogue with society and listen to society to influence in how we work.
Marcelo, and we're getting this ready so we can show more of that, those results of everything that Marcelo is telling us about. It's the Itaúsa Institute. Let's take a look.
Muito linda a iniciativa.
That's a beautiful initiative. Alfredo, let's talk a little bit more about the Itaúsa Institute. What motivated its creation?
Well, we are very happy of having done this work. Last year, we talked about this. Well, looking at Itaúsa's role in ESG, in the holdings role, and in the companies we invest in, each one is in a different industry and has different types of operations. Most of them have their own institutes and programs in that area. So it's very important for us to align all of that and see where Itaúsa can cooperate, where we can influence them through our board of directors so that that agenda will become increasingly more relevant for all of that. I'm not saying that it's not. I believe that it's an agenda in big companies. ESG is anyways.
Creating this institute is making all of this happen, what we want to show to society. Other institutes and our own projects connected to sustainability and efficiency, which is pretty low in Brazil in terms of productivity. I believe that's part of the DNA of the families in supporting society. We are a Brazilian group that is located here. We invest in Brazil. We do not have investments outside the country. I believe that the institute is an additional responsibility that we decided to spontaneously go into so we can help solve the challenges for all of society.
Yeah, definitely. Like Marcelo mentioned, he saw the sign, and it's very important to us when we see that because it really resonates with the country, has been resonating with the country for a long time.
Tell us more about the strategies and the focus of the work. An important point that we should dialogue with our investors and the audience in general is that the institute is an integral part of the Itaúsa ESG strategy and the entire sustainability vision of Itaúsa. It's not a separate player that has disconnect actions of the holding's vision. As Alfredo mentioned, as the holding, you don't directly work in the companies, but you do influence the economy. We need that the country's and the world's economy has to driven so it's more positive for the climate, nature, and people. That's the direction that we wanna move towards with our work in ESG, and the institute plays an important role in that. Talita mentioned in the video the two main axes, so preserving the environment and productivity and sustainability.
As Alfredo mentioned, that's not developed enough in Brazil, actually in the world, where you have to bring together a concept of productivity that is old with the new contemporary vision of productivity, so productivity plus sustainability. We believe that that will be a big contribution that the institute can have, not only for the companies we invest in and for all industries in Brazil, but also for the economic transition that we need to help Brazil to go through. We can't forget that among all the challenges that we mentioned, we have to look at opportunities that will bring in prosperity, jobs, and income because these young investors in Itaúsa, in 95% of cities in Brazil, are looking for opportunities. They're looking for job opportunities, income opportunities, and opportunities for a better life, a better country, and a better world.
Exactly.
It's very important what you said because today Brazil is seen as a country where we see the biggest opportunities in energy, for instance, and there we can take huge leaps and offer the world what the world needs, which is clean energy, and that's an opportunity for us to contribute towards that energy transition. Which is what people talk about the most in the world, in the economy. In the past, it used to be about debt, but now ESG and energy transition, that's the trending topic. Alfredo, tell us, how is the board of directors working with the ESG agenda?
Well, it is a very relevant topic, even though I feel that investors cooled off a little in the sense more recently. We still haven't lost the momentum. We have Marcelo, we have the institute.
We've been working with the companies we've invested in on that agenda because we believe it's a long-term agenda. Companies that do not adapt to that or do not take it seriously will see the consequences in their business and their image, especially from the younger audience that Marcelo mentioned. They do have higher demand concerning that topic. They wanna see more responsibility and accountability coming from companies and even the government. Obviously, the government has to be a part of all of that. Companies alone won't be able to solve that.
Creating that environment, right, about the regulatory framework and public policies in line with investments towards building that sustainability. It's not just the energy transition, Juliana. We have soil use and nature-based solutions, NBS. So how can we decrease and eliminate deforestation?
We have many environmental assets that gives Brazil the competitive edge. The companies we've invest in sanitation, in energy, in transportation, construction works, all of them are part of this new economy that is and can be increasingly more sustainable, generating income and jobs and the transition that we need.
Yes, the Biomas. It's not just the Amazon.
We do talk a lot about the Amazon, but it's not the only biome that we have.
Yeah, we have the Brazilian savanna, the Cerrado, the Pantanal, the Atlantic coastal rainforest.
Yes, definitely many biomes. We have a huge coast, right?
Yes, we're talking about sustainability, and one of the things that stood out to me in energy was energy, but you mentioned solar, right, and transportation. Sustainability is a very comprehensive agenda.
Sometimes we think it's more specific, but actually it's an agenda and segments that we don't really realize we're part of.
We will have a panel of our CEOs and the areas that each company is in. Itaúsa has a privileged position to look at the portfolio and see how we can create synergies. As we want to work a lot with cooperation and collaboration, 'cause I always like to say that Itaúsa is all about how can 1 + 1 become 11. That's an important view because, in fact, we have leading companies in their industries, and these industries are key for that transition.
When we're looking at how we can contribute towards Brazil, there's the side about what the institute can do with their vision of investing in studies such as the study on productivity and sustainability with the Getulio Vargas Foundation and the green economy and inclusive production with the Arymax Foundation. We have a study with the Amazônia 2030 for the economy of the biome, Biomas through a partnership with the Kimi Society Partnership or Institute, with Rosa de Castro and with Ibirapitanga Institute as well. We also have important investments in Concertação for the Amazon, where it's an engagement with all the industries, culture, economy, science. About how we can solve problems, that it's not just about stopping deforestation in the Amazon, but giving the Amazon other economic options to change their profile and opportunity to create a forest economy that's live and booming.
With the Votorantim Institute, we're doing climate emergency programs for the more vulnerable cities in the country. People that are looking at what's happening down south and what's happening in the Amazon will see the huge importance of having these climate emergency plans for all these cities. Our shareholders, who are in 95% of Brazilian cities, will know that the institute will help to contribute in plans that can be used in 95% of the cities, actually 100% of the Brazilian cities, to help people to adapt and build solutions for the climate crisis. That's how we want to do things, not just supporting specific projects, but also working through partnerships with other organizations and financiers because we know our contribution is important, you know, BRL 50 million in 2024, but not enough.
It's about bringing together all the efforts, and that will really make a difference, especially because Brazil will be the president or the chair of the G20 and will host the Climate COP. We're looking at Brazil, so it's our responsibility to play our part and an opportunity to bring in more investors to work together with us.
I think that the point that Marcelo raised, this is very relevant. Our institute doesn't have the intention of doing things by itself. We have many partnerships, so we want to maximize resources. As you make efforts together, you don't have to spend much in doing the same things. I think with this ecosystem, we're going to have much greater and faster results.
Yes, I've only been in the company for seven months, but the perception that I got is that, you know, ideas are being very well-received when it comes to sustainability or being very well-received by the team, by the management, by the board.
The conversations with our the companies we invest in has been very fluid because they're saying, you know, that as investors, we can help them advance some points that may be a bit more difficult to do by themselves. This ability of doing things together is very important. I think leadership. The leaders have been very good in implementing an execution and also demanding executions.
Yes, as we're speaking, we're getting many questions and praises from the audience. We've been hearing a lot about this initiative from Itaú, and it just shows the value that our brand has. Investors know it, and they're also proud of being part of this process because you're also a part of. They're also a part of it, right? They're along with us in the company.
It makes us feel great to know that we're there in a project that makes sense.
Yes, it's a contribution to the country as well. As we're going through an energy transition, climate change, I don't think that we can be omissive. Of course, Itaúsa materializing it, not making it only you know something ethereal. There's an institute that coordinates it. There's an agenda.
Yes, I think our investors specifically have the expectation of you know being a part of the solution and not a part of the problem. I think that this effort, this will to identify where challenges are, dealing with them, investing in how we're going to build the solutions together, is a more important sign of resilience that we can provide.
Yes, just one last comment connecting to something that was said in a video in 2021.
We said that Itaúsa couldn't do small things. We're too big to do small things, and I think that that's a fact. We can't do something insignificant. We have to generate an impact. We have to work with our companies. We have to join our efforts with other institutes, with companies, universities, research, and so on. I think this is a very relevant step that Itaúsa is taking, even as an example for other companies to follow, our partners, their partners.
I think we have to, you know, guide this. We have a huge role of responsibility here, and it's not easy to do things together. It means that you have to be open to listening and identifying the best ideas and buying them and not just, you know, doing it for credit.
As I'm working in different areas of Itaúsa, we see that it knows how to work together, and I think that its relationship with its investors and other companies it invests in demonstrates that we have the potential of doing it at a greater scale, doing it even better.
Yes, Marcelo is infecting us with his excitement.
Yeah, we really believe what we're doing in Itaúsa.
Yes, I'm sure that people who are watching us can feel that. Marcelo is really speaking from his heart, and it's great to hear.
Everyone wants to contribute, so thank you for sending us your questions and your ideas as well. We get so many great ideas, so we should be able to capture them to make this country and planet better.
I always say that in the middle of all these challenges, we have to continue building a better planet, a better country, and that's what we're doing today.
Yes, I'm very proud to be a part of this project because it really is very true. Thank you, Marcelo and Alfredo, to be here. We know that it's a difficult initiative. It's hard to be there as an investor from the beginning. I'd like to thank Marcelo for being here with us in this session. Thank you, Marcelo. You know, you're always welcome. We need your good energy.
Despite the challenges that we face, you know, we have to believe. Well, 1 million investors in 95% of the municipalities of Brazil, this is what drives us in the morning.
Yes, you can be sure that Itaúsa investors are here, and they want to be a part of the process. I'd like to invite you to be a part of the ESG panel, and we're going to be able to go deeper into this with the CEOs and the companies that we invest in. To make our debate even better, as I said at the beginning of this event, we're going to have the opportunity of speaking with CEOs from some of the companies that are a part of Itaúsa's portfolio. Alfredo Setúbal will continue here with us and will be joined by Milton Maluhy Filho, CEO of Itaú Unibanco; Antonio Joaquim de Oliveira, the CEO from Dexco; Miguel Setas, the CEO of the CCR Group; Radamés Andrade Casseb, CEO of Aegea; and Caio Turqueto, CEO of Copa Energia.
Of course, Juliana Rosa, myself, will be chairing this conversation. I'd like to welcome our guests. This is such a beautiful table that was organized this year. I said during the meeting that it looks like a podcast. It feels very modern. Welcome. I think people are still feeling a bit shy, but Alfredo and I, you know, we've gotten a warm-up. We're ready, and people are still shy. I'd just like to let you know that at the end of this panel, we're going to make our satisfaction survey available for you. Please answer, and you can scan this QR code on your screen, and your assessment is essential so that we can continue evolving. I'm going to ask a question to each one of you. Let's start with Milton.
Milton is standing here or sitting here next to me, and I think that we can get started since we were here before. Milton, can you tell us about the vision of each industry that you lead? What are you doing to face, you know, these challenges in sustainability? Milton, what are the main challenges in the ESG agenda for Itaú Unibanco?
Well, first of all, good morning. I'd like to talk to all of my colleagues here. It's a pleasure to be here with you. The ESG agenda, as you were saying before, is a part of our DNA. It always has been. I joined the bank in 2001, and I remember that it was a part of the sustainability index.
It was one of the few companies that joined in the beginning, so I wasn't even in the bank, and this agenda had already existed. It had always been very strong, represented by Alfredo and Itaúsa. What I usually say in the bank is that ESG cannot be a separate agenda. It can't just be an attachment. It needs to be integrated to our business. We've done this to ensure that all of our decisions and our strategic positioning has ESG as one of its pillars. It's integrated to our culture, and it's a part of our daily decisions. I think the biggest challenge that we face is climate issues, naturally. The bank also had to go through a decarbonization effort, and Scope 1 and Scope 2 were absolutely carbon neutral, and this depends exclusively on the bank.
What we recently did was to sign an agreement, the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, where we made a commitment to reducing Scope 3. These are the indirect emissions that we've had from our clients, and by the end of 2050, we want to have zero carbon emissions. You can't do it if you don't have a great agenda with your clients. We want to be a transition bank, meaning that we want to support our clients in this transition, helping our clients to get structured, and we want to fund this transition throughout the years. This has been one of our main goals, and this is the agenda that we've been working on frequently.
Yes.
I spoke to Alfredo that when we think about Itaú Unibanco, we always ask where ESG is, and it's great to hear that it's everywhere, as you said. It's spread around with every decision and in every workspace.
Yes. Milton, it's important to talk about the fact that regulations are very strong in the financial industry.
Yes. We have a mechanism to keep track of our regulators. The central bank has been monitoring it for many years, and we have many verticals. We do credit risk, market risk. We look at sustainability, operational risks, and recently, there was also a climate and a socio-environmental risk factor. Regulators have also been evolving there. We're learning what it means together. We're getting assessed in this area as well, and the entire bank has been in this agenda.
It's not only about being a big bank. It goes through asset management, retail, how we publish our results, TCFD, where we state very clearly what our challenges are and how the bank will impact temperature, and the environment, society, and everything related to it. That's also very relevant, and we've been keeping track of it.
Yes, let's talk about sanitation. This has been a very important agenda. What can you tell us about the challenges and opportunities that you see for ESG in the sanitation industry?
I think from a global standpoint, we're all going through challenges, right? We've talked about climate change. In the global risk matrix, we also see social differences creating friction more and more between cities and countries. We've been seeing wars, deforestation, scarcity, and water is at the middle of all of it.
Being able to manage this transition in scarcity is part of our business. In Brazil, specifically, it has an even more serious complication. You know, millions of people don't have access to sewage or treated water. Aegea, since it services over 32 million people in 14 states and over 500 cities, in its risk matrix, it's been providing social and environmental solutions to engage with clients and bring them into the environmental cause. With processes, with risk verification, by developing this area constantly, we've been able to mitigate the risk. This is what Aegea does, and this is how it's been working right now.
Yes, it's great to see that we have different areas, right? We have banking, we have sanitation companies.
Yes, I think Aegea has a lot of experience with lower tariffs, providing better access at a more affordable price for populations in need. I think that that's very important to mention. Especially in Rio de Janeiro, since you've been working there for many years.
We're talking about a natural monopoly, so when the company mobilizes itself to plan during those 30 years, how you're going to get to each home and accessible services. You face a situation of social fringes in certain regions where momentarily they're going through economic problems. These families don't have jobs. They don't have subsidies to support them during that transition. The service operators should develop together with the regulator tariff remedies. The company benefits currently over 2 million people with access to social tariff in the 500 cities that we operate in Brazil. Specifically, even bigger in Rio de Janeiro.
In Rio de Janeiro, normal contract of accessibility is approximately 3%-5% of customers with an exemption that can go up to 70% of the tariffs, so that family can actually have that citizenship certificate, so to speak, giving them credit and opportunities. In Rio de Janeiro, we're expanding that social tariff to 26% of customers. That means that we are assisting these customers in inclusion and to make sure everything is in good standing.
Yeah, that's ESG as well. We said it's very comprehensive. I was even going to say to Milton that ESG is also feeling a part of something and appreciated. The ad, the Itaú ad of Mion and Stallone is amazing. I'm sure everybody's gonna want to see that. It must have been incredible. Okay, let's continue with our ESG agenda with Miguel. You weren't here last year, were you?
No, I onboarded five months ago. Waldo, he's the CFO, and he was deputy during a couple of months. Thank you, Alfredo, for the invitation. This initiative is fantastic, and it's a huge satisfaction to be here with all of you.
To add to infrastructure now in ESG and the global challenges, definitely.
Could you bring the mic closer to you, please?
Well, infrastructure is a structuring agenda. In addition to being essential to the country's growth and making Brazil's development feasible, I'd say it's one of the main focus of an ESG agenda. Like they just mentioned, for CCR, ESG is a historical practice. We are part of the Ibovespa Index, B3, since the beginning. We're the first in the industry to have SBTi, so the decarbonization targets are validated by the SBTi. By 2023, we'll have a 60% reduction of Scope 1 and Scope 2. Therefore, CCR was the first company in Brazil to receive that validation or seal. In the past year, an important highlight is MSCI. It's a Morgan Stanley index. We're AA , and that's very relevant.
We're the first company in the industry to have that AA rating, and we're aspiring AAA , and that would be the maximum in terms of sustainability. About our strategy, Juliana. Recently, we had CCR Day. That was last week. It was our investors event. We've announced a strategy where ESG is a real part and fundamental for the CCR group in five dimensions. The climate dimension, and here we're talking about the agenda that was first mentioned by Milton, which is decarbonization. The transportation industry all over the world accounts for 12%-15% of emissions, probably one of the main ones in the world, in energy industry construction. Therefore, decarbonizing the economy also means to decarbonize transportation, and we have many projects I can mention later. Nature, we've heard that before.
Preserving the natural biomes, and we do have a commitment to a nature-positive commitment, meaning making it better than we found it. Company and society has to ensure that, and especially here in Brazil. Those two dimensions are part of E, of the environment, climate and nature. When we go into S, in social, we have two dimensions, people and partners. In people, all that means diversity and inclusion. In partners, it's to ensure that we have a supply chain that's sustainable. It's not just about CCR that's affirmatively inserted in its chain and sustainable practice. We have to guarantee that the partners are also with us. Lastly, G, in governance, and Itaú has always been very active in our governance to ensure that governance is sophisticated international standards.
CCR has been navigating in those three letters with practices that are benchmarks and reinforcing our leadership moving forward.
Great. It was great to listen to you right now. Now let's hear about Antonio, about construction materials and your vision of the ESG agenda.
Thank you. Thank you for the invitation. Thank you, Alfredo, and hello to all my colleagues here. It's a pleasure to be here with you. Dexco has two major arms, so to speak. One industry focused on finishing materials for construction and the wood industry as well. The ESG topic is a very timely matter. A group like Itaú is talking about this with its investors, 'cause there is a lot of marketing in the market, but here we actually see things accomplished, right? Concrete things.
I always like to say that in the case of Dexco, which is a 70-year-old company, when I joined, they already showed me the first practical example of what today they call ESG. When Olavo Setúbal and Eudoro Villela, our founders, had the lease lien for deforestation of a large farm in the countryside of São Paulo, because back then the government was encouraging that. We were opening up farming borders. They visited the area and decided, "No, we will preserve this area." There's a huge reservation.
That's very important to remember that because we did talk a lot about that. That's something that has existed for a while now, right?
Yes, definitely. That is all about the families, the shareholders. We are a company that makes products from planted forests.
To have planted forests, we preserve pretty much 1/3 of all the lands that we have. They are all dedicated to preservation only, even untouched, I'd say. We've been certifying our reserves for many years. We're the first company in the southern hemisphere to have FSC certification, and that was 25 years ago. That's the biggest certification in forestry management. In the construction industry in Brazil in general, we still have construction that's not really that modern, that leads to a lot of waste, solid waste, and impacts, especially to the environment. Dexco fosters many different initiatives with startups and projects to have cleaner construction work. Recently, one of the companies we invest with, we invest in Cubo, they work with very clean and fast construction, so to speak, to modernize construction not only for commercial purposes, but also residential.
We've established an agenda where we not only have friendly products, so taps, these toilets that save water. That was mentioned already, water and sanitation. We have products that consumers connect to. I would say that ESG in businesses like ours, that is something permanent. It's a permanent agenda. The way it looks changes a little, but it actually, it's been with the company for a while now, and we're very proud of the very ethical work that we do on that ESG front.
Okay, Caio, you're last, but not least, right? It's important to mention energy in ESG, 'cause that's the example that I mentioned when I was talking to Alfredo just now. With a huge capacity of being able to contribute towards the energy transition.
Well, it's not by chance that I believe that all companies that are here in this panel are within the same topic. ESG has gained a lot of momentum, and in our group, we've been doing emissions inventories since 2018 in the three scopes to focus on a transition project. LPG is a transition project where you displace heavy oils. But we have some regulatory issues that still have to be resolved. Of the National Agency, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, who's been working with us for the product, and that pretty much doubles our market. But more importantly, in the ESG topic is that with that, you're actually displacing the main pollutants, and LPG has a very important role in that transition.
As a company, we've been reducing our lightweight vehicles are being powered by ethanol, and heavy are in transition, and now we're waiting for biomethane, we're waiting for that project, so it goes to market. We're dedicated to that, as everyone here on this panel, and in practice, to transform things. In governance, we've gained a lot with this participation of Itaú, because our company is a family-owned company, and with its own governance, we've gained more momentum with Liquigás coming into our portfolio and capitalization in the governance program.
It's important to hear that because Alfredo, because you mentioned the importance of Itaúsa being a part of these companies that we've invested in, where everybody is together. Like what Marcelo mentioned about the integration, that's essential.
It is. Today, Itaúsa does not control any of the companies we invest in alone.
Either it's a controller or it's a minority shareholder. We do have an agenda, and we try to influence the governance agenda, so environmental climate, through the board of directors that we are part of, so that we can talk about and show them our values and things that we believe in, that a company that is accountable, that has a 21st century agenda instead of the 20th century agenda, and going through this, all the different type of transformation. We need to have a 21st century agenda. That's what we're trying to do.
That's how we try to influence governance in having our board members participating in the day to day of all the different committees that we are part of and boards that we are part of, so that ESG is in fact a business lever and not a wheel to stop things and not do them. I believe that companies can do much more business if they know how to use the levers, the governance levers, the climate agenda, environmental agenda, and social agenda levers. It's a path that we try to influence in the companies that we are part of, that we have a share in.
You see that Milton was embarrassed when I mentioned Stallone. What did you think about that, about that campaign?
It was bold, but I liked it. You're an athlete.
Well, not quite. To be honest, I didn't even know they would air that campaign. When they did, I was pretty surprised. I did like it a lot because that idea of Rocky Balboa, especially in the first movie, it's all about achievement, right? It's the message that the bank wants to convey to its customers. Yeah, it was great, Milton.
You didn't expect me to talk about that, about Stallone, right?
Yeah. No, it's fine. There was a lot of repercussion with that campaign. It was a huge success. I give it a 10, definitely. A lot of online feedback, Juliana.
In social media, you can see that I was commenting. I've seen it so many times. It's really touching. Yeah, it's great. It's about building value. Value, and that's what you're representing here. Yeah, it's the story behind that achievement.
Yeah, overcoming things, all the difficulties, overcoming that. Yeah, that's what I wanted to remember that no matter how many times you go down and you get back up again, it doesn't matter how much they hit you, it's about how much you hit them. I love that. It's a beautiful campaign. I was touched. I definitely know that everybody's talking about that, and I had to mention it 'cause it does have to do with the topic that we are talking about, and that you're part of these business strategies where people that are together with you are investing, and they really believe in that. They wanna be a part of that intrinsic value. Tell us more about this business strategies of Itaú Unibanco and how sustainability is present in that and the challenges that you've been seeing.
Antonio mentioned something, and something that I always say when we talk about ESG. Nowadays, it's very easy. It's the buzzword. Everybody's talking about that. At the bank, we really take that seriously. In everything that we do, we like to talk about results more than simply talking about a convenient narrative for that moment. First of all, the biggest result in our business strategy is that we've made available a volume of BRL 400 billion for investments in financing and structuring operations that would have a positive impact to society. Industries of a positive impact. BRL 306 billion . We've already complied with 76% of the target. That's a strong achievement. Imagining that that objective had to be complied by the end of 2025. If you ask me when we get there, is it done?
Well, it's about the next one, right? It's like the ladder. You just keep on going up, and that's what we believe in. All our initiatives are measured. Net zero. The easiest thing for a CEO is to sign a commitment for 2050. You sign that, and you say, "Well, I'm gonna hand this over to someone else someday." Deep down, when we signed that commitment, the first decision was, well, we need a robust plan and take that to the board of directors because 2050 is almost here. To be zero in that, you have to go through a very long process. On that journey, we've already made some announcements for some of the industries, and we've been advancing a lot. We were talking about the diversity and inclusion agenda.
The bank has objectives, women in leadership, blacks in the institution, and we've been beating all these objectives, achieving these objectives year- after- year. Today, we have, out of the total employees, over half of the employees, 55% are women, but we still have to do some work in leadership positions. To have results, first of all, you have to recognize that you have to challenge and a problem that you have to deal with. That's the agenda that we've been focusing on with a lot of emphasis. On the governance side, that's something we do talk a lot about. This meeting has to do with governance, how we talk to our investors, how we tell our story. Miguel was talking about the CCR Day. We also have CCR Day, and we also have our Itaú Day, and we like the recognition of being institutional investors.
We were voted in eight different categories, not only last year but also this year. We've won in all eight categories in the Latin American sector, small bank, medium-sized banks, and large banks, and we were first. That shows the importance of that agenda, and governance talks about how we communicate to the market society and how we disclose our results and transparency and details. It's about results achieved. Last but not least, I'd love to mention the incredible work that's done by our foundations. Itaú Foundation is an extension of our social arm. Through that foundation, we are even here at Itaú Cultural, and this is where we have work that's spearheaded by Sergio's team and our board members also that are part of that.
I'm also part of a quarterly meeting together with all the shareholders to talk about the sustainability agenda. Through the foundation, that's where we make important investments, not only in education, but also in culture. The results are incredible. Unibanco Institute also has a very powerful agenda in that sense, very much focused on education. We've been working on ESG. In the E, in addition to all the topics, we also have the Amazon committee, together with other banks, with Bradesco and Santander, where we discuss how banks can help to care for the Amazon biome, invest more in the region, and guarantee that we're going to invest in people and society so that we have a sustainable economy with a long-term vision, always with the logic of preservation.
I just have a comment here. I think it's always great to quantify the things that we're speaking of. The Itaú Foundation and the Unibanco Institute have yearly investments of nearly BRL 450 million, and this is not incentivized. This is what we put in an endowment many years ago. They came from shareholders from Itaú at a certain point in the past, and now it puts Itaú and Unibanco as the biggest patrons of culture and in the social area of Brazil. Of course, there are many incentive laws, and if we add all of it together between incentivized and non-incentivized resources through Itaú Unibanco, we have over BRL 700 million. Yes, that's very relevant.
I remember, Alfredo, that when we had Todos pela Saúde during the COVID pandemic, we made a relevant donation of BRL 1 billion. It was the first institution to do it. We're very proud of it. I know that our employees and shareholders were proud of it because we had a technical group of physicians hired, and they decided how those resources would be allocated. We only helped with the technology and with procurement, but they allocated it. With that investment, we're considered one of the top eight foundations in the world in non-incentivized resource allocation. It's a great asset for everyone involved. For the Setúbal family, it's really a great incentive.
You mentioned that the Itaú Cultural building is great, and it really is many free things to enjoy. You can come and see us at Avenida Paulista here in São Paulo.
The Itaú Cultural website receives over 1.2 million visits a month. It's a huge outlet for culture in Brazil. It's even one of the biggest websites in the bank itself.
Yes, I've seen many concerts and events. It's a great place. Radamés, I'm going to ask you a bit more about Aegea's strategies for because we have sustainability, as we saw as one of our main business strategies. Tell us a little bit more about that. What is that like right now? If you can tell us a little bit more about our business strategy.
When we talk about the risks of strategy that affect our business, when we look at the national perspective, you can see the scarcity of resources.
When we hear, for example, in the news about the floods in southern Brazil and some water shortages in some places of the country, I mean, investing in programs to take care of water, to have more water or to protect and to replant water sources in Pantanal and in Rio de Janeiro. With that, we can foster for the next decades future resources, right? Making sure that these areas won't be invaded, and it makes them more expensive over time. It's basically providing cheaper resources. It's really making resources affordable for people. Projects like this one or like the one we had with the BNDES with match funding, where we invested together with the BNDES so that every BRL 1 million invested would be doubled and supporting effective results.
I mean, out of the most recent ones, we can see in Rio de Janeiro reduced pollution in the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon. We saw a couple of weeks ago that in the last 40 years, this is the first time that all beaches in the southern part of Rio are bathable at the same time. This is due to the efforts that we made directly with infrastructure. We see clear signs that this is being protected. Yes, as a Rio dweller, I loved it. Yes, and water is becoming clearer and clearer. We're going to see the effects of tourism and the economy booming back in Rio. You know, Rio needs to be cared for.
Aegea is including itself not only to protect it against pollution and providing more water, but we're also creating more self-esteem for the city, creating more employment. In Rio, we have service providers with 8,000 employees, many of which come from you know come through for the first job that they've ever had. This creates more self-esteem, and it allows you to understand your clients better. It allows you to adjust your communication. It helps you to make more assertive decisions. These are some things that the company has done to help with this long-term journey.
Oh, yes, connecting to what Radamés is saying. Is our sound okay? I think it is, right? Right. Continuing what Radamés is saying, I think that's a very important statement.
When Aegea buys a concession or a privatization, it's not a simple transfer from the public to the private industry. You see the difference there. Aegea is creating a social tariff. It's creating engagement. In two years, it had long-lasting effects on public infrastructure, and we don't want to minimize the challenges that we faced. You see the short-term effects of a privatization, of a well-done investment.
Yes, and these are all public services, right? As entrepreneurs, we're providing a service for our neighbors, for all of society, and this is what we want for our children, right? It's a government service, but it's managed as a private company. Governance sets the right rules, and purpose is what drives people and generates results.
Exactly. That's our concern.
It shows how it's possible to conciliate public interests with private interests in a constructive agenda.
Connecting these two issues is essential. You have a big vision of what is important. I'd just like to remind you that you can take part. You can send us questions through social media. On Twitter, you can send us #Itaúsa, and they're all sending us your messages in the backstage here. Enjoy it. We have a lot of great information.
We could have several of these meetings just with the information we have.
Milton and Alfredo might answer more questions because they have a more difficult agenda. I was going to say that we have had Panorama Itaúsa for 23 years, and I've been interviewing Alfredo.
Alfredo, tell me that you're going to be interviewed by me publicly.
Yes, of course, I will. It will be a pleasure.
I'm going to talk to Caio about his business strategy. Tell us a little bit more about your business strategies.
As GLP is a commodity, we work on international prices. What we've been doing with ESG and transformation is to work on creating new products. We talked about biomethane, and what we're doing is we're starting to execute a project in Mato Grosso, but of course, we're depending on a regulation being passed, right? It's difficult to be efficient, but in any case, this project is ready. In Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, we started a major project with universities for fishing using GLP to aerate crops. You can do that and bring aeration into the forest.
You know, Mato Grosso is the biggest producer of fish in reservoirs. With GLP, we can help with aeration. We're considering the different kinds of applications and using GLP to transport diesel, oil, and coal. The company has a major project, and we've been discussing this in a board for a long time, which is to create a SWAP terminal. Because with the Brazilian coast, you have one GLP source. It goes from the SWAP to a tank terminal. It's a tanker that can store 45,000 tons, and we're participating in building a 90 million ton terminal. Besides that, we also have a mega project importing gas into Rio Grande do Sul, and from Bolivia to Mato Grosso through a road. It's a very difficult thing to manage, but in any case, it would have a political and issue.
I mean, Bolivia has a lot of instability, but this has been done since the Temer administration. When roads were blocked, I went to Bolivia and purchased their remaining exports to service the Brazilian Midwest. We've been working on R&D, and buying a state-owned company often gives you some footprint, but we also have to change mindsets. The company has been, you know, meeting its goals. I think this goal in energy transformation is, you know, boosted by our drive, right? I think our product is very well fit into that. It's a very intensive effort. We're sweating a lot, so to say, but.
Yes, but if I know Alfredo well, he wouldn't do it if it were easy.
Yeah.
Just to praise Caio, I think that Copa Energia, you know, after these years of integration with the company and Alpargatas, I think it's the time to think about this kind of work, new sources, new uses. I think the last two years, we were focused on integrating the companies.
Yes. I think we went through a great transformation in the company in processes and IT. We had two companies with two systems. Liquigás and Copagaz had trucks in the street with two different company numbers, but now the company is trying to find a new way forward.
Okay. CCR strategies, if you could tell us a little bit more about that.
Well, I'm going to give you some numbers which really illustrate the challenge that we have ahead of us. 85% of the Brazilian population lives in cities.
Brazil is one of the most urbanized countries in the world. We have some of the biggest cities on the planet. São Paulo is the fifth biggest city on the planet. Four of them are in Asia: Tokyo, Shanghai, Delhi, and Dhaka, and the fifth is São Paulo. If something's, if CCR does something well, it is managing complexity. Why is this relevant for ESG? Most of the sustainability equation is in cities. A sustainable city is something that we all have to do, right? 80% of emissions happen in cities. CCR has no problem with sustainability, right? Our business is sustainability. We transport 3 million people every day on our subways and trains. I mean, that represents the entire city of Brasília.
It's as if we took the entire city and transported it in our trains. We're actively contributing to reducing emissions. Sustainability is a part of our business. Whenever we move passengers in our trains, we're doing it sustainably. What's the strategy for our group? Well, we have BRL 33 billion across our three businesses. Highways, urban mobility, and airports, and all of these investments have been made consistently to have sustainability. Here's a comment on governance. This afternoon, we're having a committee on ESG, which has Itaúsa, and we're going to talk about our goals and ambitions for decarbonization. We're making many investments with this goal of becoming carbon neutral, making our economy more sustainable. Like Milton said, 2050 commitments are too far in the future, so we need to have concrete plans.
An example for CCR is that we're doubling our installed capacity of solar power. We have plans there. We need to double our capacity. We're also migrating our fleet so that it uses biofuels. 100% of our energy is coming from renewable sources. In Brazil, that's not very difficult. Brazil has one of the cleanest power grids in the world, so 85% of its power is from renewable sources. We have a roadmap. We have ambitious goals, and you know, we have to ensure that we are responsible, right? It's more about these three letters because they can be limiting. We're operating a public business, right? We're providing a service for the future. This is one of our goals.
Can I just ask a question? This project with solar power plants, is it going to be expanded to be a business?
That's a great question, Alfredo. Yes, without a doubt. We have three dimensions in our strategy. One refers to cost. We have communicated that we want to optimize our power, right? We're the third biggest consumer of power in Brazil. The first goal is to make our operation more efficient.
Secondly, we want.
We're one of the biggest consumers of electricity in Brazil. We're looking at it from that perspective, Alfredo.
And you have all the-
You have the space.
All the space of the highways.
There's space for highways and trains and so on. Space and consumption. You have both sides, right? Having these projects and the stability and consumption and pretty much a guaranteed demand that even allows for the financeability of projects. It's an area where it wouldn't be the main investment, but where the CCR Group will look for opportunities.
You asked for some credit, right?
Yeah, it's already approved. With a competitive advantage rate.
We have a huge audience. We'd like to thank everyone who's participating, even outside Brazil. We have Quebec that are watching the Itaúsa Panorama. For this last round, we need to hear from Antonio from Dexco to talk about the business strategies.
Like I mentioned, Dexco is a 60-year-old company that's still transforming itself. We've added new businesses.
Approximately five years ago, we entered the ceramic industry with leading brands. We're a house of brands. That's how we're built. More recently, our project with the highest investment in the pulp, where we invest in dissolving pulp that has a great environmental appeal with its own forests and great areas of preservation. We built an agenda on that. More importantly, we built an agenda for the group. We're always looking into the details of that in the next five years. An agenda to grow in all those industries that we are part of. There's two relevant points in that agenda. First of all, our purpose to offer solutions to live better. The second is that in addition to the group strategy, we have the sustainability strategy. It's not something that's separate. We've created targets, many different kinds.
For instance, for gas emissions, we have targets. We're on the other side of the scale. Dexco is a company that has a positive balance in that in emissions and capturing. We capture more carbon than what we're emitting. We committed in the long term that the growth agenda will be by maintaining that condition, and that's very relevant. Most companies are looking to mitigate the carbon footprint. We wanna maintain the positive balance on that. In building that sustainability agenda, that ESG agenda, well, there are targets in all the different industries. In the carbon footprint, in the environmental social targets, we've discussed a lot about that. They're always connected. I always like to say that that can be used to guide the company's growth.
Our values and our foundation and our beliefs, so to speak, and our values, these ESG values, they guide us in expansions. There's even an example that a couple of years ago, we did excellent business. Well, we were offered an excellent business, but at the end of the day, we decided not to move forward with it because it wasn't a business that we believe would be sustainable in the long term. Regardless of the results, that type of business did not fit, so to speak, with our beliefs. In the same way Yeah, we wanted it a lot. We did. It was interesting because ESG marketing was sold as something that's really good in terms of sustainability, but when we went to look at it, actually, it wasn't really like that. They used compounds and things that really didn't make sense.
The sustainability strategy is used to guide the business in the long term and guarantee that we're right on track and have a good purpose. In all growth purposes, there's that strong commitment. It's a public commitment that we inform all our stakeholders and always providing information about that.
Antonio, are you gonna ask Milton for some credit?
He's already a good vendor.
A lot of people still see ESG as something expensive or costly and focused on compliance and mitigating risks. Here we're talking about the commitment with the ESG agenda. That's essential, not only to create sustainable value, but also to generate business opportunities, like Antonio mentioned. Could you talk about your vision on that? If you could share examples and opportunities so we can start that round. Many times there's that type of vision that it's separate from the opportunity.
Every time you look at the process and try to get closer and what the main pain is, usually you'll find an opportunity of trying a solution and having acceptability. When you project that in risk and the framework of the city and the environment and temperature, you're gonna say, "This is closer to my core," or, "This is adjacent to it." How you would pick your development. A part of that exercise made the company start to look at solid waste, for instance, as an advance in that comprehensive process that the sanitation legal framework is using or considering as targets. 12 months ago, we started an operation in Cariri, a small operation, to take care of a landfill that is connected to solving local problems that the customers in that given region were already servicing.
The solid waste market in Brazil is young in terms of regulation. Only 10% of the market is under concession. There's a journey out there for that market. When you look at the framework of sanitation in more comprehensive manners like solid waste and drainage, they're verticals that the company will look at in a responsible way to try to be perceived by their customer, the over 32 million customers that the company has, as a provider in that environmental aspect. Together with the externality of taking care of the environment, you can also add other benefits.
There's a regulation that gives you a deadline to end the landfills or illegal landfills, but that's a reality. City halls and others, I don't know if that would be complied with.
I think the point is the direction.
As a society, we've been moving towards effective directions to end those disorganized landfills and the sanitation gap that we have in Brazil. It'll be extended for another 10 years. In terms of society, that's a blink of an eye. It'll just go by real fast. The important thing is to be diligent here in this case. Itaúsa's investors that are opinion leaders. I realize that you are in 95% of Brazilian cities. There's Itaúsa's investors. You are opinion leaders to do that transformation. You need to demand that from your public representatives. When there's an election, that discussion has to be brought to the table. Together with our purpose of being entrepreneurs, we're willing to make a difference, and that's what makes the difference.
That commitment is essential. It has to be clear that it's very strong. When I hear you.
About the business opportunities, Caio, if you can comment on that so we can understand that one thing is connected to the other.
Well, first of all, the company operates in 25 states of the federation, so we have inequality levels that have to be measured with more efficiency and depth. For instance, there's a specific area in the northeast where we're working with new packaging, so you can give access. There's a problem, a severe energy poverty. What would be the replacement of that? Our availability is to work with each one of the communities in a deeper way to understand and find an equation that would solve that situation. In parallel to that, development of new products would make it easier for you try to achieve the low-income population.
We've been developing some programs with some organizations such as Falcões or Locomotiva to get to these areas and assist these people. That hasn't been evolving fast because that price discussion at Petrobras interferes in the business overall, and we escape that discussion, so to speak, by maintaining product importation. Our biggest program today would be to work with new sources of energy, and second, with packaging to service low-income people. You can't have too much diversity because that would unbalance the company. I believe that the company has a clear target for growth in the next five years. We're finishing our strategic planning of the company next week and to submit that to the board the other week. Our wish and our efforts has been to grow in all areas where we have share in the market.
Like in the state of Bahia, in the northeast, we are expanding the platforms and creating new products. We believe in growth and servicing low-income people 'cause that's the natural consumer of our product, and they're going into wood because of lack of affordability. In the state of Maranhão, in the northeast, you have a lot of diversity, so the demands aren't the same that you see in the northeast. Excuse me, that was in the north. Not the same as northeast or north. I was in shock about the Amazon recently. Had never saw anything like it. We have to be ready for that transformation. For those who didn't believe in climate change, I think that now they can believe in that.
Yeah. Proof is out there, definitely. They're important agents in that process, all of them. Oh, definitely.
That message that you're stressing is essential, so that we understand that many times we're, like, sitting in our bubble, and we don't understand the importance of looking at the big picture and how many challenges we have in Brazil. We're moving towards the end. I'd like to address a topic that Alfredo mentioned a lot about, which is intersectoral collaboration so we could advance in the sustainability agenda. You've been mentioning that collaborative agenda a lot. We see many initiatives taking place individually, also taking place not only in companies, but also in studies and foundations that are sponsored by them. In this last round, starting off with you, Alfredo, do you believe that collaboration alone between the private initiative or with them, is there a limitation, like you mentioned, about the relative positive impact for the global challenges?
Could you say a few words on that? What's missing for that to really happen?
Well, Juliana, Brazil is a poor country. We can't deny that reality and the scarcity of resources that results from the government in its three levels. I personally believe that for things to have the necessary dimensions, we need the role of the government as a driver of that agenda, be it through the ministries or the central bank and the financial system. I think it's essential that the public sector spearheads and provokes that agenda. The private sector, through its companies or institutes and foundations, can add on to that in a more efficient manner than the government. I believe it's a mix of both. Here we're talking about large companies.
All companies that are here in this panel are their market leaders that are very big here in Brazil, and I believe we play a role in that agenda, and we need to drive that agenda. We need to set the example for other companies, and we just need to do that. Alone, obviously, the private sector won't achieve all its objectives as society.
That's about joint efforts between public and private initiative.
The green agenda and the government, we still need to understand that, right? What it will be.
Yes, the green agenda, energy, investments, incentives for investments, a significant legal framework and regulations, all of that is necessary for legal security for investors so that they can invest, and like Marcelo Furtado, will give us a better country and a better society overall. Yes, we need to understand that, and knowing those details, that's essential.
Milton, could you give us some more examples on that collaboration in between industries, different industries?
Yes. First of all, I have a relevant reference that in the climate agenda for decarbonization, that's an agenda for everyone. We don't want to be the leader and win because there are no winners. It's something you have to do together. One bank alone can't lead that alone. We have a common enemy, and we need to work together on that. We have to all walk at the same speed. Not only other banks are moving, because we have the Net-Zero Alliance, but public or state-owned banks also play an important role. It's a cooperation between the private sector, where we are partners in that agenda, and the public sector, looking and acting so that we can encourage a transition so that we are the bank of transition for our customers.
All our customers here, everyone who are here and that are our customers here on the panel, everyone has a plan like you heard here, and many other companies do as well. That cooperation happens at all levels. The private sector, publicly or state-owned companies also have that, and we're monitoring that closely so that that agenda is done the best way possible. A very mundane example would be the cooperation between public and private industry and banks and regulators. The Pix type of payment, where we democratized payment for population overall at a competitive cost, and it only worked because of the data or idea and infrastructure. If all public and private banks hadn't adopt that as a means, a payment method, we wouldn't have that type of share as Pix has.
Governmental lines that were approved during the crisis and pandemic that still exist. The FGI, which is a BNDES line, the Brazilian Development Bank, and Pronampe. Another important case that is connected to the recovery of a population that was in debt, which is the Desenrola program, a very important program that's a partnership between the public and private sector. The government has structured that, and banks have implemented and started phase II of the project. Huge success, where in fact you can recover the credit capacity of people so that they can go back into the economic agenda, and they can have access to credit again. It's a partnership between the public and private institutions.
Finally, I think there are two more initiatives. One is Cubo, where within Cubo, we have a hub with over 400 startups. They have over 34 projects focused on decarbonization. To help companies accelerate their decarbonization processes. Another one was an investment that we made in Biomas, a company, through the initiative of Rabobank and other partners. Our goal is to explore, recover, conserve 4 million hectares, that's the size of Switzerland. That's the size of the investment that we've made to provide reforestation for this area. This is an investment that we all made. I really believe in this partnership. As Alfredo said, it's a matter of priorities.
There are investments that are made, and this is an urgent agenda that we all have to embrace. Yesterday was a record for Pix, right? 160 million transactions in all of Brazil. Yes, it continues to have higher penetration. It's an initiative of the regulators with banks, and this has democratized payments for all of Brazil.
Yes, I remember. You know, I was talking to the Central Bank, and they said, "You'll be able to pay for your popcorn using your cell phone." I said, "Nah, that's never going to happen." It really is impressive how quickly it rolled out. Now you have to, you know, always have your phone on you. You don't even need to carry your purse because you can pay everything through your phone. Yes, I've been advertising this.
Young people say that it's great because I learned that you can click here and pay in seconds. It's wonderful. We're coming to the end of our show, but I'd just like to ask Miguel to say one more thing. If you can tell us about the importance of this collaboration.
Well, I'd like to reinforce that, you know, we can't forget about the role of the public industry and the government with a regulatory frameworks and all the investments that are necessary so that we can make our investments rationally. I think it's, you know, an area that we're also interested in. New technologies have been connected to a low-carbon economy for a long time. Brazil is a place where we know about this because of how big it is, because of its natural resources and the privilege of our energy sources.
We can be a global player in some areas that will be essential. One example is green hydrogen. This is an area in which Brazil can be a global leader. We can have the cheapest production of green hydrogen in the world because of our competitive initiatives, and this has an impact on the green industry. Brazilian cement, for example, has a low carbon footprint. Brazilian steel is competitive due to its carbon footprint, so we've been making strides in decarbonization. Right now, we're looking at a project involving green hydrogen. As you might imagine, Bahia is one of the biggest producers of green hydrogen. Well, actually, it's green hydrogen.
We will have some projects to help in this transition towards green hydrogen, and we can benefit it in an infrastructure that will require less maintenance, will have higher service quality, and will help in decarbonizing the transportation industry. If we have a great regulatory framework, if we have a sensibility to this agenda, I think there will be strong connection between the private and the public sectors. Milton mentioned his investment, so I'd like to congratulate them for the investments with Biomas. You know, two weeks ago, I visited Cubo, and we might be the next players in this ecosystem, and it shows the power of the private industry when it connects for a common goal.
The innovation ecosystem, the sustainability ecosystem, along with these companies around this table, having investment capacity, having an execution capacity, and being able to deliver on these transformations has all it takes to make this agenda a significant one. I think innovation and sustainability are now the same thing, right? I even say innovability. When you're doing sustainability, you have to go through innovation, right? Concrete, free flow, as you know, this is a pioneering experience that we've had in the Rio-São road, the first in the country, where you don't have to stop for a toll. You basically go through a gate, and it's automatically charging your toll. Many of, you know, your emissions are when you stop at a toll. When you have an automatic model, then that can contribute towards having lower emissions.
Yes, it's great to hear about these concrete examples.
Yes, it's not science fiction. Electric aviation is also a major example. We're preparing some of our airports. We've been adapting them to be net zero, and we have to prepare them for this reality. Drones and we have a Brazilian company that is a global leader in electric aviation, and we have to start thinking about these opportunities. Sustainability and innovation are now the same thing. We know that we're doing good things when we're doing ESG, and of course, we're creating opportunities.
Right. Maybe for the next Panorama, we'll drive in with electric vehicles and, you know, we feel modern already with this table.
Yes, another important thing, road safety. We were talking about an intersectoral collaboration, and this is a significant area.
We know that one of the main reasons that drives us is having road safety. We've been working along with other companies for this.
Wow, I think people really have liked this panel. We had 1,500 people watching. It's a pleasure to be here with you. We're coming to the end of Panorama 2023. Before we finish, we will hear from Lucy Sousa. Lucy has always been in Panorama. She is the chairwoman of Apimec, one of the associations in the capital market, and she recorded a video for Panorama 2023. Let's hear what she has to say.
Wow, here we have the stamp of approval for Apimec. Yes, this will be for our gallery. Yes, it's wonderful to have had it for this long, right?
We have millions of shareholders. It's a huge company. Having transparency, having contact with our investors is a part of our obligations as a publicly traded company, and we do it with pleasure. We're always accountable every year, not only in this event, but in most presentations, and we're very happy with this award. There are other companies. The bank has even more than 23 years of existence. CCR is a publicly traded company. Dexco also. Aegea maybe soon, right, Radamés? Being a publicly traded company provides many benefits for society in terms of transparency, accountability, and responsibility.
All right, I think we're out of time. Before we wrap up, I'd just like to ask you to make a closing remark so that we can wrap up. What's your closing remark for Panorama this year?
Well, when we look at the scenario, I think it's becoming more and more complex. The secret for the future is to be resilient and to collaborate. I think continuing to be entrepreneurs with ethics, focusing on our clients, I think this is what will drive us in this journey.
Right. Antonio?
I'd just like to highlight that the fact that we have several nice cases and a structured effort in ESG did not happen by chance. It's a reflection of Itaúsa and selecting portfolio and managing, how this is being inspected in the board. Itaúsa's portfolio management has been very important in ESG.
Well, I'd like to thank our shareholders. They're always looking at our portfolio, representing our investments. We talked a lot about ESG, but this is an agenda for all of us.
If you're watching, give us your contributions and feedback. This is how we'll be able to.
Keep going, Juliana. Keep going.
The example has to be from the top, right? It needs to come from the top. Let's continue with Miguel.
Yes. I'd just like to reaffirm what we communicated last week in our CCR Day, which is the commitment that we have to all of the investors watching us, as well as analysts and the entire market. This is a sustainable value. I'm using the word sustainable because it has two meanings: over time and sustainable because it's aligned with our ESG vision. This is the vision that we'd like to pass to the market. We want to lead our industry, focusing on creating sustainable value. We hope that this also aligns with our shareholders and with Itaúsa. I'd just like to reaffirm that. Thank you. Caio?
Great.
I think that next year, in alignment with the spirit and purpose that we've had for all of our companies, I hope that we'll have a year to celebrate in the next Itaúsa Day.
Yes, we definitely will, right, Alfredo? We should always believe.
Yes, despite all of the challenges that we face here. I think you're used to it, right?
I think we all are. Thank you, everyone. Alfredo, do you have anything to add?
No, I'd just like to thank you for participating. This was a short conversation, but I think it was a very high-level one. I think our audience enjoyed it. I think we were able to, you know, give you our messages on how we work on our ESG agenda. This has become more and more important to make our business viable.
I was very happy with these results from this meeting. Of course, this wasn't something we rehearsed. We always arrive here, and Juliana has some questions. We often get carried away. We talk a lot about different things. Yes, she likes to improvise, but I think it creates a good atmosphere. People were able to share their results and talk about their own agenda. I was happy to see this portfolio having such great results, great policies, and such solid benefits to society. I think that's the most important thing.
Great. Thank you for being here in this conversation. Thank you, Alfredo. We're having an additional year together, so I think I really should be wearing your shirts. In any case, thank you very much.
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You're investing in a company that has a commitment to our country. Have a great afternoon. We'll see you next time.