Avaliação de práticas ESG em uma unidade siderúrgica de aço

Abstract

In 2000, the United Nations launched the Global Compact, which was established to bring the private sector closer to the UN Development Agenda. This discussion was expanded in 2005 and 2015 with the publication of the "Who Cares Wins" document and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. These publications, along with major impactful events such as the Kyoto Protocol, Rio+10, and the Paris Agreement, led to an evolution of the concept of sustainability and the emergence of the ESG concept—Environmental, Social, and Governance. This concept has expanded to the private sector and is discussed across various sectors of the economy. Among them, the steel industry is one of the most important, both economically and environmentally, for Brazil. The country hosts the largest industrial park in Latin America and the ninth largest in the world (Ludwig, 2015), and it is one of the sectors with a significant impact on social and environmental spheres. Among these, ArcelorMittal stands out as one of the largest steel groups in the world, operating in 10 of the 27 federal units in Brazil.The main reference for quantifying the impact of ESG actions of publicly traded companies in Brazil is the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE B3), created by the B3 Stock Exchange. Based on this reference, this study was conducted in three stages: Initially, a simplified adaptation of the ISE B3 methodology was carried out to quantify, within the "E" pillar (environmental), the sustainability performance of ArcelorMittal in six major areas: Environmental Policies and Practices, Ecological Impacts, Energy Management, Water and Liquid Effluent Management, Waste Management, and Air Quality. Based on the data obtained, the second stage of the study aimed to delve deeper into the areas of lower performance identified in the initial stage, according to the ISE B3 criteria. A technical interview was conducted with one of the engineers from the company's environmental team, who demonstrated several initiatives being undertaken to minimize impacts in the lower-performing areas. In this stage, it was possible to identify that the greatest opportunity for improvement was in the area of environmental education, which provided inputs for proposing improvements in the third stage, based on Design Thinking concepts and solution development methodologies such as the Double Diamond. As a result, the company achieved performance above 85% in all dimensions according to the ISE criteria. The main issue was identified in the area of ecological impacts, where the difference was 5.94% compared to the average score: 92.94%. Based on the in-depth analysis proposed through the technical interview conducted in stage 2, it was identified that the greatest opportunity lies in acting in the area of environmental education, considering both communities and employees. To leverage this opportunity, stage 3's main outcome was the creation of an ambassador program with challenges for company employees to raise awareness and educate themselves in various environmental sectors, extending this awareness to the broader community.