Interconexión Electrica S A E S P : In Brazil, the Conexión Jaguar program supports the first conservation project that generates carbon credits in a Natural World Heritage site

• This is the first REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) project in the Pantanal, Brazil, which is also considered a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
• More than 231,000 carbon credits were certified under high international standards, which will be traded in the international voluntary market and have the potential to reduce approximately 430,000 tons of CO₂ by 2030.
• The project was awarded International Gold Level as it certifies exceptional benefits for biodiversity and communities.

The jaguar plays a vital ecological role in the balance of ecosystems by protecting biodiversity, waters, and forests, as well as guaranteeing the survival of the species that coexist with it and its associated habitats.

This cat is found in 18 countries in the Americas, but in the last 100 years its population has been reduced by almost half. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, this species is considered near threatened. Furthermore, it is estimated that in the Pantanal only 6 to 11 jaguars exist per 100 km2; however, this is one of the best rates of presence and conservation in the world.

Therefore, ISA has been working since 2017 on the Conexión Jaguar program, through which it contributes to biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation by implementing forestry projects in priority areas for the protection, recovery, and connection of jaguar habitat and corridors, as well as the development of communities.

The area protected through the first REDD+ project in the Pantanal to issue carbon credits covers more than 135,000 hectares, which is equivalent to almost the urban and rural area of Bogota (Colombia). The protected area is managed by the Instituto Homem Pantaneiro (IHP), who is in charge of executing the project. This non-profit organization has more than 20 years of experience in the protection of nature in the Pantanal biome, while respecting local history and culture. The project certified "exceptional biodiversity" benefits, earning Gold in the international CCB Standard (which assesses quantifiable benefits to climate, communities, and biodiversity). This means that it contributes to the protection of endangered species such as the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) and other vulnerable species.

Call for new projects

Those interested in becoming part of the Conexión Jaguar program can register their forest projects at https://conexaojaguar.org/pt-br/faca-parte/. The selected initiatives will benefit from technical and financial support to issue and trade carbon credits under the highest international standards (VCS + CCB, Gold Standard, among others), as well as technical support to determine the conservation status of medium and large vertebrate species that inhabit the project area.

About the Conexión Jaguar program

The program currently supports nine initiatives in Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and Chile, which together represent a potential reduction of more than 7 million tons of CO₂ across more than 828,000 hectares of forest and 188 species of fauna recorded by camera traps, some of which are under some degree of threat, such as the jaguar and the macaw.

Conexión Jaguar contributes to meeting the global goals of the 2030 Agenda, such as the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Sustainable Development Goals. For 2030, the Company set a goal of supporting 20 forest conservation and restoration initiatives along the jaguar corridor in Latin America, through which it expects to contribute to the reduction of 9 million tons of CO₂.

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Catalina Arango Villegas

Chief Institutional Relations Officer

Corporate Communications Department

314 648 41 16

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