OREANDA-NEWS. April 15, 2011. BM&FBOVESPA launched “Em Boa Companhia – Programa de Sustentabilidade com Empresas” (In Good Company – Sustainability Program with Firms) on Thursday. This program seeks to deepen discussions about the everyday impact on companies of sustainability management and social investment. The program’s first debate of several for this year (see below) took place on Thursday at BM&FBOVESPA headquarters. Participating were Fernando Rossetti, secretary general of the Group of Institutes, Foundations and Enterprises (GIFE); Maria Luiza Pinto, the Executive Director of Sustainable Development at Santander; Issuer Development Officer at BM&FBOVESPA, Cristiana Pereira; and Sustainability Officer at BM&FBOVESPA, Sonia Favaretto.

At the event’s opening, BM&FBOVESPA Chief Executive Officer Edemir Pinto explained the program’s name. “The name is symbolic. We believe that firms create a network of good companies when they are concerned with this agenda and execute concrete actions for the introduction of socio-environmental actions and of governance that is attuned to economic-financial dimensions. In this case “good” doesn’t have the traditional connotation of goodness. It represents a group that is a true point of reference for companies and that attract others that want to be part of this network, that is, to be in Good Company.”

In its first support initiative within the program, the Exchange launched a publication entitled “Novo Valor – Sustentabilidade nas Empresas, Como Comecar, Quem Envolver e o que Priorizar” (New Value – Sustainability in Companies, How to Start, Who to Involve and What to Prioritize). The event also launched the book “Associacao Profissionalizante: 15 anos promovendo a cidadania de jovens em risco social” (Job Training Association: 15 years of promoting good citizenship among the socially at-risk young). The two publications were distributed at the event and shall remain available for the companies that are interested in them.

The program

“Em Boa Companhia – Programa de Sustentabilidade com Empresas” (In Good Company – Sustainability Program with Firms) will promote a range of initiatives that include: sharing information through newsletters and publications, quarterly in-person meetings with sustainability experts at the Exchange, and an annual open meeting occasioned by the announcement of the new ISE index, in November. There will also be the redesign of Site Em Boa Companhia (in Good Company in Portuguese), a website created in 2007 to publish listed companies’ socio-environmental projects. The website is being changed in order to grant greater visibility to the best initiatives put into practice by publicly-traded companies. There are currently 44 firms involved in the initiative, involving 58 environmental and 242 social projects.

Sustainability guide

“Novo Valor: Sustentabilidade nas Empresas. Como Comecar, Quem Envolver e o Que Priorizar” (New Value – Sustainability in Companies, How to Start, Who to Involve and What to Prioritize) is a sustainability guide from the viewpoint of the capital markets. Its preface is written by James Gifford, the Executive Director of Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). Drawn up by the technical consultancy of the Fundacao Brasileira para o Desenvolvimento Sustentavel (FBDS), (the Brazilian Foundation for Sustainable Development), the book includes a timeline mapping the evolution of the sustainability concept in the business world since 1950, and suggests “13 steps towards sustainability”. “The aim is not to establish rules or ready-made formulae, but to serve as a starting point so that the individual company can find its own solutions, taking into consideration the characteristics that make it unique,” explains BM&FBOVESPA Sustainability Officer, Sonia Favaretto.

APBM&FBOVESPA’s Systemization

The BM&FBOVESPA Job Training Association was founded in 1996. It is a success story that can serve as inspiration for companies that want to promote social investment. The history of this entity and all of the paths taken since it was created are set out in the book entitled “Associacao Profissionalizante: 15 anos promovendo a cidadania de jovens em risco social” (Job Training Association: 15 years of promoting good citizenship among the socially at-risk young). The preface is by Colombian philosopher and educator Bernardo Toro, one of the most influential thinkers on education and democracy in Latin America.

Based in Sao Paulo’s Bras neighborhood and Rio de Janeiro’s Mangueira neighborhood, the Association promotes social inclusion through three professional education programs: “Capacitacao para a Empregabilidade” (Employability), “Faz Tudo” (Handyman) and “Espaco Beleza” (Beauty Industry). It involves young people aged 15 to 20, who are in the public school system and who come from households with a monthly income of up to three minimum wages.

Novo Valor (New Value)

All of these initiatives fall within the scope of Novo Valor BM&FBOVESPA, a program launched in May 2010 with the objective of promoting sustainable development in the Exchange and the capital markets and involving publics that range from investors to companies and brokerage houses. On the Novo Valor da BM&FBOVESPA website, information is available about those Exchange indicators, initiatives and projects related to sustainability and social investment.