Introduction

This chapter provides a practitioner's perspective on how Petrobras builds and manages its Communication on Progress (COP) reporting. It is not possible to write about the COP experience of Petrobras without telling the story of the progress of the company regarding social and environmental corporate responsibility during recent years. Petrobras is an integrated oil and gas company, the largest corporation in Brazil, and one of the major companies in the international oil sector. As such, Petrobras acknowledges its prime responsibility for the environment where it operates and striving for sustainable development is a historical commitment of the company. Recently, these efforts have shown important improvements being integrated in its corporate governance.

In 2007, Social Responsibility became a corporate function at Petrobras. Therefore, in the ‘2020 Petrobras Strategic Plan’ the mission of the company is to ‘[o]perate in a safe and profitable manner in Brazil and abroad, with social and environmental responsibility, providing products and services that meet client needs and that contribute to the development of Brazil and of the countries where we operate’. The company vision for 2020 is ‘We will be one of the five largest integrated energy companies in the world and the preferred choice among our stakeholders’. Two characteristics of this vision are that Petrobras' operations should be a benchmark in social and environmental responsibility and committed to sustainable development. For this management challenge, a strategic goal for 2020 was also set: ‘To be a world class reference for social responsibility, contributing to the development of sustainable business models.’