Nelson Gomes
Comgás CEO
Comgás had remarkable achievements in 2019. The conclusion of the 3rd and 4th Tariff Reviews was one of the highlights, allowing us to move forward with our focus on operational excellence, customer service, higher distributed volumes, and contributing to competitiveness and the universalization of natural gas. We estimate approximately R$5 billion in investments until 2024, when the current tariff cycle expires, mainly targeting maintenance and expansion of our network. In line with our strategic plan, we invested R$899 million in 2019.
We achieved a record of 2 million customers on our network, with the highest safety, quality, and efficiency standards.. We are proud of positively transforming people’s lives by delivering the comfort, safety, and convenience that only piped natural gas can provide.
We also concluded the renovation cycle of our cast iron pipelines, which were replaced by 100% polyethylene, enabling us to deliver greater operational safety and environmental gains to our operation.
2020 has arrived. This year’s events will be discussed in our next report, but I could not neglect to mention two relevant topics.
First, the incorporation of Compass Gás & Energia.
Brazil’s natural gas production should double over the next 10 years and will play a relevant role in Brazil’s economic development. This, coupled with the new decentralized regulatory framework and higher competition in the sector, should increase the share of natural gas in Brazil’s energy matrix.
Thus, early in 2020, we announced that Comgás now composes Compass Gás & Energia, a company created by Cosan Group to operate in the natural gas sector and integrate the gas and power markets. Compass will operate in four business areas: infrastructure, to bring natural gas from the pre-salt and international market; distribution, which already relies on Comgás, Brazil’s largest pipeline gas company; generation, which efficiently transforms the gas into power; and trading through Compass Comercializadora, which already has broad experience in the power-free market and now will include natural gas in its portfolio.
The second important event was the global pandemic caused by the Coronavirus that has been hitting Brazil as of March. From the very beginning, we took action to mitigate the effects of this severe crisis. Besides donating 70% alcohol and equipment to the public health system along with other Cosan companies, we placed our execution capacity at the service of society to fight the pandemic. We set up crisis committees to have updated discussions about the best course of action, and we adopted measures necessary to continue our operations, which are essential to the population and the country.
It is not possible to foresee the developments of this pandemic, but I am very confident that Comgás and its employees will be ready to offer the energy capable of transforming lives and businesses.
We reaffirm our commitment to delivering natural gas to an increasing numbers of people in our area of concession by offering the best energy solutions. We believe in this purpose!
I would like to thank all stakeholders for the confidence and support we received from them in 2019. Have a good read!
Sustainability Report
In publishing this Sustainability Report for the third consecutive year, we would like to reiterate our principles of transparency and accountability to our employees, customers, investors, and other related parties. |GRI 102-40, 102-52|
This publication reports the Company’s operational performance and consolidated financial results for the period from January 1 to December 31 of 2019 |GRI 102-45, 102-50|
This document also seeks to evidence our operations’ contributions in the concession area of the State of São Paulo, in the economic, social, and environmental areas. We always allocate capital in line with our principles of creating sustainable and long-term value.
In compliance with reporting international standards, we adhere to the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Standard version (Core option). |GRI 102-54|
For the first time, we have made public our 8 commitments to sustainable development, which align with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Our commitments are consistent with our values, always contributing to a fair, ethical, and equal society.
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Our Purpose
The energy we deliver enhances people’s quality of life, increases business efficiency, and contributes to urban development. |GRI 102-16| Safety, Efficiency, and Customer Satisfaction, the three pillars of our company culture, fuel our operational excellence and the committed work of our employees.
8 Commitments to Sustainable Development
Understanding the importance of promoting an increasingly transparent communication with our stakeholders, for the first time, we have made public our eight commitments to sustainable development, which align with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Our commitments are consistent with our values, always contributing to a fair, ethical, and equal society.
1
Ensure the safety of our teams, processes, and operations
2
Promote and stimulate energy efficiency as well as develop and update greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory
3
Promote gender diversity in our selection processes and succession map while continually developing our people
4
Promote ethical values among our team members
5
Seek funding connected with sustainability criteria (Green/Social/Transition/ESG-related)
6
Contribute to Brazil’s sustainable development, starting with communities surrounding our companies’ operations
7
Promote transparency in our business management and align business management with environmental, social, and governance values
8
Participate in sustainability and innovation forums and voluntary initiatives to discuss, influence, and learn, always in pursuit of best global practices
Approach to COVID-19 crisis
As a result of the extensive spread of COVID-19, the WHO declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020.
We have always considered health and safety to be essential values, which is why we are currently adopting a contingency plan aimed at preserving the physical and mental health of our employees while continuing essential operations. We have kept in close contact with authorities, suppliers, clients, and other stakeholders. Since the inception of the crisis, we set up crisis committees that have been diligently working to determine appropriate strategies, provide status updates and assess possible impacts on each business.
We pioneered in Brazil the commitment to not lay off employees at this moment. We also transitioned our administrative employees to home-based work at all of our portfolio companies. All facilities and processes were fine-tuned to preserve the physical integrity of field professionals to guarantee the continuation of essential services. Moreover, employees in the risk group of Covid-19 were instructed to adopt specific social distancing, care, and monitoring measures. Each operation conducted its action and communication plan on safety at the workplace, in units, and on the streets. The group donated R$17 million mainly to hospitals and health professionals, communities nearby our operations, and truck drivers, who provide essential services to the country and cannot stop working.
To learn more about our initiatives, access the full version of our Sustainability report.
Click here to download our Sustainability report for 2019