ENGIE to neutralize Rio Open’s carbon emissions through the Jirau Hydropower Plant.
Holding
Rio Open, South America’s top tennis tournament, whose tenth edition will be held February 17-25, 2024, at the Jockey Club Brasileiro (Rio de Janeiro), will have its greenhouse gas emissions neutralized for the fourth time by the Jirau Hydropower Plant, whose shareholders are ENGIE (40%), Eletrosul (20%), Chesf (20%) and Mitsui (20%). Rio Open’s partnership with ENGIE Brasil has been in place since the company began to sponsor the event, in 2020. Emissions are neutralized using carbon credits arising from renewable energy generated by the Jirau Plant, which is registered with the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism.
“Our purpose is to act to accelerate the transition to a carbon-neutral economy through reduced energy consumption and more sustainable solutions, which includes emissions reduction and neutralization. Our objective supporting events like Rio Open is to make sure that they become more sustainable year after year,” said ENGIE’s CEO in Brazil, Mauricio Bähr.
Jirau, located on the Madeira River, in the State of Rondônia, is the fourth largest electric energy generation site in Brazil by installed capacity, and has used carbon credits to neutralize other events, such as the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro.
“We started out by decarbonizing the event itself. We then decarbonized the athletes’ commutes and, since last year, the public’s transit has also been accounted for. At first, in 2019, we donated approximately 400 carbon credits and reached almost 1,500 in 2023. Every credit is equivalent to one ton of CO2,” explained Edson Silva, president of Jirau Energia.
The event relies on the Rio Open Green platform, which invests in initiatives to minimize the environmental impact caused and engages in actions to inspire a conscious generation when it comes to environmental preservation. The actions launched long before the event even begins, with the application of circularity principles to the waste chain, based on three stages: reduction, recycling and reuse.
“We believe that sports provide a powerful platform to mobilize people and convey messages to a wide audience. Investing in the environment and climate pillar is part of our strategy as actors for the dissemination of the sustainability culture. We want to mitigate and offset our activities’ environmental impact,” declared Marcia Casz, General Director of Rio Open.
Over the event’s three latest editions, the Rio Open Green platform’s sustainable initiative have been effective, leading to the neutralization of almost 3 thousand tons of CO2 generated by the event itself and by transport used by spectators, who total approximately 60 thousand per year.
The campaign to neutralize carbon associated with fans transit for the 2024 tournament has already begun. Through the neutralizarioopen.com.br Website, ticket buyers for Rio Open 2024 can neutralize the carbon they will produce as they travel to the tournament, be it by plane, car, bus, or any other means of transportation.
ABOUT ENGIE
ENGIE is a global reference in low-carbon energy and services. With its 97,000 employees, its customers, partners and stakeholders, the Group is committed to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral world, through reduced energy consumption and more environmentally-friendly solutions. Inspired by its purpose (“raison d’être”), ENGIE reconciles economic performance with a positive impact on people and the planet, building on its key businesses (gas, renewable energy, services) to offer competitive solutions to its customers. Turnover in 2022: 82.6 billion Euros.
In Brazil, ENGIE, leader in 100% renewable power generation in the country, operates in generation, commercialization and transmission of electric power, gas transport and energy solutions. The Company
has in the country an installed capacity of 12,5 GW, originated from renewable sources and with low GHG emissions, such as hydro, solar and biomass power plants, and windfarms.
With the acquisition of Transportadora Associada de Gás – TAG, ENGIE now also owns the largest natural gas transportation network in the country, at 4,500 km and transecting 10 states and 191 cities.
The Group has a complete portfolio of integrated solutions focused on reducing costs and improving the infrastructure for companies and cities, such as energy efficiency, public lighting, energy monitoring and management.
With 2,800 employees, ENGIE’s turnover in Brazil in 2023 was of R$ 11.7 billion. ENGIE trades on the B3 through its energy generation and trading company, ENGIE Brasil Energia, under the ticker EGIE3. In addition to being a B3 Novo Mercado component, the Company is one of the very few companies that have been listed in the Business Sustainability Index since its creation in 2005. In 2021, ENGIE Brasil Energia was included in the Carbon-Efficient Index (ICO2), made up of IBrX 100 companies that are most transparent in terms of GHG emissions reporting and how they are preparing for a low-carbon economy.
The company also received in May 2024 the certification Great Place to Work, a recognition which validates the continuous commitment of the company to create a positive and inclusive work environment for all.
The Group is listed on the Paris and Brussels stock exchanges (ENGI) and is represented in the main financial indices (CAC 40, Euronext 100, FTSE Euro 100, MSCI Europe) and non-financial indices (DJSI World, Euronext Vigeo Eiris – Europe 120/France 20, MSCI EMU ESG screened, MSCI EUROPE ESG Universal Select, Stoxx Europe 600 ESG-X).