EDP, a company that operates across all segments of the country’s electricity industry, has once again been recognized by the EXAME Sustainability Guide. This time, the Company was nominated Best Company in the Community Relations category. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2018, EDP’s Institute helped benefit 3 million people and invested R$ 100 million in around 400 social projects. The Guide, first published in 2000, highlights some of the country’s best corporate responsibility practices. 

EDP was above the average for its community improvement initiatives. Some of the standout initiatives include deployment of solar power plants in coastal and indigenous communities the social projects developed by the EDP Institute in areas such as education, local development with income generation, entrepreneurship and volunteering, involving sports, culture and health. In 2018, 24 of the organization’s initiatives benefitted approximately 38 thousand residents from communities in areas where the Company operates.

Promoting the Portuguese language is also a priority for the Company and, as a result, it is the biggest sponsor of efforts to refurbish the Portuguese Language Museum. The Company also launched a mobile exhibition called “The Power of the Portuguese Language” (A Energia da Língua Portuguesa), which offered over 22 thousand visitors culture and information about the language, and it also sponsored the International Literary Festival in Paraty for the second consecutive year.

“This is the ninth occasion that EDP has been included in the Exame Sustainability Guide. Our constant presence in a publication of such credibility increases our belief that we are on the right track with our educational and cultural projects focusing on social inclusion and transformation”, said Luis Gouveia, executive director at EDP.

The 2018 edition assessed 189 companies based on a questionnaire devised by the Getulio Vargas Foundation’s Sustainability Study Center (GVces), containing questions addressing commitment, transparency and corporate governance, in addition to companies’ economic, financial, social and environmental performance.