Estudo de impacto ambiental e relatórios de sustentabilidade: contribuições para os objetivos do desenvolvimento sustentável na Klabin S.A.

Abstract

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are guiding public and private policies around the world in pursuit of the Agenda 2030, which promises a more sustainable world aligned with social and economic issues. Studies indicate that companies with sustainable practices are being the most profitable, which attracts eyes of investors, who use Sustainability Reports (SR), especially those in conformity with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standard, as source for obtaining information on environmental, social, and economic issues of the companies, also the relevance given by them in each theme. Due to the extent of its content, the GRI is a great opportunity to show the progress in compliance with Agenda 2030 and to report relevant actions related to material topics of corporate governance. The Environmental Impact Study (EIS), inside the process of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), is considered the most widely used planning and environmental management instrument in the world, and it is required for implementation or expansion of new projects that may cause significant environmental impact. Debates, mainly in academia, have suggested promoting the integration between the SDGs and the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) since both aims, among other objectives, to promote sustainable development. In order to contribute with evidence for these discussions, an analysis of a case study of the largest enterprise of the company Klabin S. A., the Puma Unit, was carried out. The objective of this research was to analyze the integration of the SDG from the planning stage, through the EIS, to operation phase, with GRI. The content analysis of these technical reports (EIS and GRI) was used as the method used, with references from the literature. The results demonstrate that the GRI was 80% integrated with the EIS, having some SDG targets as integrating elements, and that this connection can be used strategically. The GRI, in turn, achieved 95% integration with the SDG targets, with only target 12.8 as unexplored. The Puma Unit EIS had 85% integration with the SDG targets and failed to explore targets 3.4, 7.2 and 7.3. It is concluded that the results of this research can be used as a model for designing the development of EIS and GRI with greater integration with the SDG goals and, consequently, to collaborate in promotion of sustainable development.