The Use of “Equator Principles”
for Project Compliance: The Case
of the Santo Antônio Hydroelectric Plant,
Brazilian Amazon
Laudelino de S. Soares, Osvaldo L. G. Quelhas, Marcelo Jasmim Meiriño,
Julio V. Neto, Adriane D. Quelhas, Sérgio L. B. França,
Gilson Brito A. Lima, and Nicholas Van-Erven Ludolf
1 Introduction
Water is an abundant natural resource on Earth and one of the few energy production
sources that does not contribute to global warming.
Energy from the harnessing of the hydraulic potential of river waters is a low-cost
and renewable source. However, large hydroelectric plants have been great villains
of development due to the exaggerated emphasis on the impacts they cause on people
and the environment, which requires previous studies to understand and analyze the
aspects of sustainability associated with these companies.
Therefore, organizations must follow guidelines to develop sustainable projects,
considering the social, economic and environmental aspects involved in their business
and operations (Peres Neto and Fantin 2014; Almeida 2017).
Equator Principles (EP) are a set of requirements composed of 10 socioenvironmental principles applied in order to finance large projects, supported by
financial clauses that limit their application to a minimum amount (International
Finance Corporation 2015; Soppe 2004).
This paper discusses the use of financial mechanisms to promote social and
environmental responsibility in organizations from the hydroelectric sector.
To achieve this, we verified the financing conditions applied to the Santo Antônio
Hydroelectric Power Plant (UHE), in Porto Velho, using the Equator Principles.
L. de S. Soares · O. L. G. Quelhas · M. J. Meiriño · J. V. Neto · A. D. Quelhas · S. L. B. França ·
G. B. A. Lima · N. V.-E. Ludolf (B)
Laboratory of Technology, Business and Environment Management, Fluminense Federal
University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
e-mail: nicholasuff@gmail.com
L. de S. Soares
e-mail: laud.soares@uol.com.br
J. V. Neto
e-mail: julion@id.uff.br
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Integrating Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59975-1_22
339
for Project Compliance: The Case
of the Santo Antônio Hydroelectric Plant,
Brazilian Amazon
Laudelino de S. Soares, Osvaldo L. G. Quelhas, Marcelo Jasmim Meiriño,
Julio V. Neto, Adriane D. Quelhas, Sérgio L. B. França,
Gilson Brito A. Lima, and Nicholas Van-Erven Ludolf
1 Introduction
Water is an abundant natural resource on Earth and one of the few energy production
sources that does not contribute to global warming.
Energy from the harnessing of the hydraulic potential of river waters is a low-cost
and renewable source. However, large hydroelectric plants have been great villains
of development due to the exaggerated emphasis on the impacts they cause on people
and the environment, which requires previous studies to understand and analyze the
aspects of sustainability associated with these companies.
Therefore, organizations must follow guidelines to develop sustainable projects,
considering the social, economic and environmental aspects involved in their business
and operations (Peres Neto and Fantin 2014; Almeida 2017).
Equator Principles (EP) are a set of requirements composed of 10 socioenvironmental principles applied in order to finance large projects, supported by
financial clauses that limit their application to a minimum amount (International
Finance Corporation 2015; Soppe 2004).
This paper discusses the use of financial mechanisms to promote social and
environmental responsibility in organizations from the hydroelectric sector.
To achieve this, we verified the financing conditions applied to the Santo Antônio
Hydroelectric Power Plant (UHE), in Porto Velho, using the Equator Principles.
L. de S. Soares · O. L. G. Quelhas · M. J. Meiriño · J. V. Neto · A. D. Quelhas · S. L. B. França ·
G. B. A. Lima · N. V.-E. Ludolf (B)
Laboratory of Technology, Business and Environment Management, Fluminense Federal
University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
e-mail: nicholasuff@gmail.com
L. de S. Soares
e-mail: laud.soares@uol.com.br
J. V. Neto
e-mail: julion@id.uff.br
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Integrating Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59975-1_22
339