The relevance level of themes is assigned by Petrobras stakeholders

Transparency in performance disclosure

The Social and Environmental Report is the disclosure of information about the performance of the Petrobras System in the economic, environmental and social areas.

COMPANIES AND SUBSIDIARIES REPORTED IN THE REPORT 2008

  • > Petrobras Holding in Brazil and in another 27 countries where it operates ¹
  • > Petrobras Distribuidora
  • > Petrobras Química S.A. (petroquisa)
  • > Petrobras Biocombustível
  • > Petrobras Transporte S.A. (Transpetro)
  • > Alberto Pasqualini Refinery (REFAP) ²

The selection of these companies and subsidiaries was based on the following criteria: participation in the management and control and their representation on Petrobras' results. The recently acquired companies were not reported due to some of the above reasons and/or because they are in a stock transfer process.

¹ Does not include the thermal power plants controlled indirectly by the company.

² Refap is controlled in conjunction with Repsol YP F and is not included among the refineries of the Petrobras Holding.

This edition of the annual publication includes data for the period between January 1 and December 31, 2008, and is also a report on the company’s progress in complying with the ten UN Global Compact principles, initiative of which it is a signatory.

The information in the report is organized under the following items:

  • 1. Petrobras: general profile data of the organization, corporate strategy and performance in 2008;
  • 2. Social Responsibility: data on social responsibility management and the Social and Environmental Report;
  • 3. Human Rights: Petrobras initiaties for the respect and protection of Human Rights;
  • 4. Labor: information about the company’s labor relations with its workforce and actions taken to eliminate child and forced labor in its value chain;
  • 5. Environment: data on environment and ecoefficiency management;
  • 6. Transparency: information about Petrobras relations with its stakeholders, including the measures taken to guarantee transparency and ongoing dialogue.

The Committee for Preparing and Assessing Social and Environmental Responsibility Reports is in charge of drafting the Social and Environmental Report. This committee consists of representatives from 29 areas and subsidiaries of the Petrobras System. These representatives compile the information through a collaborative network, which in 2008 consisted of 370 or so professionals of the company participating in producing the report. The data is recorded in the Social Responsibility Eletronic Data System and validated by the Committee before its publication. The process is coordinated by the Institutional Communication of Petrobras Holding.

In order to facilitate guidance and understanding, all information disclosured in earlier reports that were reformulated in this Report, plus the contextualization of the estimates presented and changes in the data measuring method are followed by explanation for its changes. In this report, there was not major change in scope or coverage in relation to last year’s report.

MANAGEMENT TOOL

The Social and Environmental Report has two strategic roles for social responsibility management. While it is a dialogue tool - to the extent that it informs about Petrobras actions and provides channels for the stakeholders to express their opinion -, it is also a tool to assess corporate management, since its process encompasses as a self-diagnosis, identifying opportunities for improvement.

The 2008 report was based on the latest version of the GRI Guidelines for Sustainability Reports, known as GRI G3. Its indicators give guidance on relevant matters in the economic, environmental and social spheres and the principles that must guide the companies when preparing a report.

The criteria adopted for defining the report content is the level of importance attributed to the topics by Petrobras and its stakeholders. They are consulted through a process called Materiality Test, which allows the company to draw up an overview of stakeholder's expectations (learn more about the Materiality Test at the appendix, on pages 130 and 131).

After releasing the Social and Environmental Report, Petrobras contracts a consulting firm specialized on sustainability reports to assess any gap in management and content. This process, called Vulnerabilities Map, allows the company to draw up action plans to enhance its action and constantly improve performance and its report. In 2008, in addition to the Vulnerabilities Map, Petrobras undertook an assessment of the Social and Environmental Report 2007 by the public participating in the Materiality Test. The results of both processes were analyzed and considered while preparing this report.

For the third consultive year the information of the Social and Environmental Report were audited and revised by KPMG Auditores Independentes. The auditors’ letter of Independent Verification is published on page 139.

RECOGNITION

At the GRI Readers’ Choice Award, organized by GRI, Petrobras Social and Environmental Report 2006, was elected by the readers as the best report in the All Stakeholders and Civil Society categories. The announcement was made at the awards ceremony in May 2008, at the Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency.

On a survey promoted by GRI, sustainability report readers voted by Internet on reports they considered to be the best based on their requirements and preferences. More than 1,700 people from 70 countries participated on the process. Eight hundred reports from 50 countries were assessed according to their category of public: civil society, media, financial market, employees, non-business, not-so-big business, non-OECD, and all Stakeholders group, the last being the total votes of the seven preceding groups.

NOTABLE COMMUNICATION ON PROGRESS BY THE UN GLOBAL COMPACT

For the third consecutive year, the Social and Environmental Report was considered notable by the UN Global Compact. The criteria for identifying notable reports consider the statement of ongoing support for the initiative, clear description of the actions for its implementation, following up the results and reliability, clear and updated information in the report in addition to including dialogue with the stakeholders.

DISTRIBUTION AND COMMUNICATION

The Social and Environmental Report 2008 is published in Portuguese, English and Spanish and is designed for all the company’s stakeholders: clients, scientific and academic community, communities, consumers, suppliers, press, investors, partners, public authorities, internal public, resellers and the third sector.

Its communication and distribution are planned and encompasses various actions, such as creating summarized version for employees and the general public, a version in Braille for the visually impaired, announcement and disclosure on partners’ sites. The Social and Environmental Report 2008 is available on the Petrobras site (www.petrobras.com.br).