App Santander
The Amazon is a unique territory in Brazil, with immense natural, social and cultural richness, but also facing great challenges. Santander believes that the sustainable future of the Amazon depends on recognizing local needs and the benefits that the Amazon offers its inhabitants, the country and the world.
We believe that the Amazon will reach its potential through a new development model built by society that simultaneously provides economic, social and environmental progress.
Santander wants to play a star role in this change. Therefore, we are already working on several fronts, supporting sustainable businesses, regionalizing products and services, training employees, investing in social projects, collaborating with public, private and multi-sector organizations, diligently managing social, environmental and climate risks.
We believe that the Amazon will reach its potential through a new development model built by society that simultaneously provides economic, social and environmental progress.
Santander wants to play a star role in this change. Therefore, we are already working on several fronts, supporting sustainable businesses, regionalizing products and services, training employees, investing in social projects, collaborating with public, private and multi-sector organizations, diligently managing social, environmental and climate risks.
North Amazon Network
To better serve the local population, in 2021 we created a new commercial network—The North Amazon Network—that covers the states of Acre, Amazonas, Roraima and Rondônia. Through this new network, we are bringing our business closer to the local people, culture and environment, recognizing the potential and vocation for sustainable businesses in the region. By the end of 2023, we will double our presence in the region, collaborating with our customers for a low-carbon, resilient and inclusive economy.
Our performance in the Amazon Biome:
Amazon Plan
We recognize that we need to join forces, because the sustainable development of the Amazon does not depend only on us. In July 2020, we launched the Amazon Plan, in partnership with Bradesco and Itaú, with the objective of enhancing and scaling solutions that promote sustainable development in the region. The plan has ten strategic measures agreed between the three banks.
Check out the 10 measures of the Amazon Plan:
To support the implementation of the plan, we created an advisory board made up of seven experts, with the aim of offering perspectives based on opportunities and risks associated to the initiatives of the banks in the region. These are the board members:
Adalberto Luís Val, biologist and researcher at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA);
Adalberto Verissimo, associate researcher and co-founder of Imazon and director of programs at the Amazon Entrepreneurship Center;
André Guimaraes, CEO of the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM);
Carlos Afonso Nobre, scientist on Climate Change and the Amazon;
Denis Minev, CEO of Lojas Bemol, co-founder of the Sustainable Amazon Foundation and the Amazon Museum;
Izabella Teixeira, former minister of the environment, biologist and PhD in Environmental Planning from COPPE/UFRJ;
Teresa Vendramini, rancher and president of the Brazilian Rural Society.
Adalberto Verissimo, associate researcher and co-founder of Imazon and director of programs at the Amazon Entrepreneurship Center;
André Guimaraes, CEO of the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM);
Carlos Afonso Nobre, scientist on Climate Change and the Amazon;
Denis Minev, CEO of Lojas Bemol, co-founder of the Sustainable Amazon Foundation and the Amazon Museum;
Izabella Teixeira, former minister of the environment, biologist and PhD in Environmental Planning from COPPE/UFRJ;
Teresa Vendramini, rancher and president of the Brazilian Rural Society.
To begin the coordinated efforts of the three banks, first we prioritized four measures, presented below.
Meat Chain.
Our intention is to act aiming at zero deforestation in the meat industry, reinforcing internal efforts, supporting the transition and articulating companies and associations to create a sectorial commitment. We expect our slaughterhouse customers in the Amazon to have their cattle supply chain fully traceable and free from deforestation, including their indirect suppliers, by 2025, as a prerequisite for granting credit.
Sustainable cultures.
We support the construction of a sustainable production chain in the businesses and crops present in the region. We offer differentiated lines of financing for the production of açai, cupuaçu, cocoa, coffee, nuts, coconut, cassava, among other products. In addition, through the Avançar Amazônia (Amazon Forward) Program, we provide technical content to support the development of farmers who work in areas such as food, extractivism, livestock and others who work in tourism.
Land regularization.
Land regularization is one of the most important and complex issues for the development of the territory. In the pursuit for solutions, we contributed with a survey on the legal framework for land regularization in the nine states of the Legal Amazon, developed in partnership with three of the most respected law firms in the country: Machado Meyer, Mattos Filho and Pinheiro Neto.
Bioeconomy.
We believe in the potential of the bioeconomy as a relevant industry for the Brazilian GDP. Together with a group of researchers, led by Salo Coslovsky, an associate professor at New York University, we will map the bottlenecks and opportunities to make Amazonian production chains feasible in the global market.