Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Finance, funds and markets · Brazil · 1982–2021

Petrobras sponsorship of Projeto TAMAR, Brazil, 1982–2021

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 2 not disclosed · 1 not measured · 3 disputed See the gaps

Petrobras sponsored the Fundação Pró-Tamar, which runs Brazil's sea turtle conservation project, from 1982 and announced the end of the partnership on 6 September 2021. Petrobras and the foundation give different accounts of who chose not to continue.

1982–2021Years of Petrobras sponsorship of the Fundação Pró-Tamar
One source gives the start as 1984. Petrobras announced the end of the partnership on 6 September 2021. The amount paid to Tamar is not disclosed.

Status As of September 2021, the latest dated item on record: Petrobras announced the end of its sponsorship of the Fundação Pró-Tamar; the two sides differ on who chose not to continue, and replacement funders are not on record.

What?
Petrobras sponsored the Fundação Pró-Tamar from 1982 and announced the end of the partnership on 6 September 2021. The amount paid to Tamar is not disclosed. Infonet
Where?
Brazil; Tamar bases at Camaçari, Parnamirim and Pirambu are named as closed in 2020. FUP
When?
Sponsorship from 1982 (one date given as 1984); bases closed in 2020; end of the partnership announced on 6 September 2021. Infonet
Who?
Gained
  • Fundação Pró-Tamar — Petrobras sponsorship from 1982 (one date given as 1984) until 6 September 2021; amount not disclosed; per a worker representative on Petrobras's board, Petrobras had become Tamar's main income FUP
Lost
  • Fundação Pró-Tamar — The Petrobras sponsorship ended on 6 September 2021; per a worker representative on Petrobras's board, three Tamar bases (Camaçari, Parnamirim, Pirambu) closed in 2020 FUP
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Petrobras says the foundation chose other models; the foundation says it took the initiative not to renew the partnership. Infonet
How?
Petrobras announced the end of the sponsorship on 6 September 2021. The amount paid to Tamar is not disclosed. Infonet
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Petrobras sponsored the Fundação Pró-Tamar, the foundation behind Projeto TAMAR, from 1982; one date in the sources is 1984. On 6 September 2021 Petrobras announced the end of the partnership. The amount Petrobras paid to Tamar is not disclosed.

The two sides gave different accounts. Petrobras said the foundation chose other models, and its director Roberto Ardenghy said the company closed the cycle with great pride. The foundation said it took the initiative not to renew the partnership.

Rosangela Buzanelli, a worker representative on Petrobras's board, said Petrobras had become Tamar's main income after Covid-19 closed its shops, and that three Tamar bases closed in 2020: Camaçari, Parnamirim and Pirambu.

Nesting data in the sources reviewed show more than 4,800 loggerhead nests in the 2003/04 season (Marcovaldi and Chaloupka, 2007) and nesting up about 2.5-fold, combined, in 2001–2019 (TAMAR, 2024). The authors credit the end of meat and egg poaching.

  1. 1982Petrobras begins sponsoring the Fundação Pró-Tamar (one source gives 1984)
  2. 2003More than 4,800 loggerhead nests in the 2003/04 season (Marcovaldi and Chaloupka, 2007)
  3. 2020Three Tamar bases close (Camaçari, Parnamirim, Pirambu), per a worker representative on Petrobras's board
  4. 2021Petrobras announces the end of the partnership (6 September)
  5. 2024TAMAR publication gives loggerhead nesting up about 2.5-fold, combined, for 2001–2019

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Who ended the Petrobras–Tamar partnership
Company or project
Petrobras

The foundation chose other models.

Infonet
Communities and civil society
Fundação Pró-Tamar

The foundation took the initiative not to renew the partnership.

Infonet

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • The end of the partnership announced on 6 September 2021, with the foundation described as having chosen other models.
    Petrobras · Infonet
  • The end of the partnership described as the foundation's own initiative not to renew.
    Fundação Pró-Tamar · Infonet

Recorded

  • Petrobras announced the end of its partnership with Projeto TAMAR on 6 September 2021; the amount paid to Tamar is not disclosed.
    Infonet
  • A worker representative on Petrobras's board said Petrobras had become Tamar's main income after Covid-19 closed its shops, and that three Tamar bases closed in 2020 (Camaçari, Parnamirim, Pirambu).
    FUP
  • More than 4,800 loggerhead nests in 2003/04 (Marcovaldi and Chaloupka, 2007).
    Marcovaldi and Chaloupka; copy hosted by WIDECAST
  • TAMAR (2024) gives loggerhead nesting up about 2.5-fold, combined, in 2001–2019; the authors credit the end of meat and egg poaching.
    Projeto TAMAR

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Petrobras sponsorship paid to the Fundação Pró-Tamar—
Amount not disclosed.
Currency: BRL · Window: . All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • Petrobras (September 2021): Said the foundation chose other models; its director Roberto Ardenghy said the company closed the cycle with great pride. · Infonet
  • Fundação Pró-Tamar (September 2021): Said it took the initiative not to renew the partnership. · Infonet

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Loggerhead nests in Brazil
More than 4,800
2003/04 season (Marcovaldi and Chaloupka, 2007)
Change in nesting, 2001–2019
Up about 2.5-fold
Combined figure, TAMAR (2024); the authors credit the end of meat and egg poaching

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Key earnings undisclosed

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Money

  • Not disclosed Petrobras sponsorship paid to the Fundação Pró-Tamar — Amount not disclosed.

Accounts

  • Disputed Who ended the Petrobras–Tamar partnership

Record

  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: the amount Petrobras paid to Tamar.
  • Disputed Disputed: who ended the partnership. Petrobras says the foundation chose other models; the foundation says it took the initiative not to renew.
  • Disputed Disputed: the start year of the sponsorship. The sources give 1982, and one date is given as 1984.
  • None on record Not on record: the funders that replaced Petrobras, in the sources reviewed.
  • None on record No source on record for: R$73 million given by Petrobras in 2020 to 121 voluntary socio-environmental projects.

Did the harm stop?

The sources reviewed give loggerhead nesting up about 2.5-fold, combined, in 2001–2019. They give no nesting data after the end of the sponsorship on 6 September 2021.

Who paid?

Petrobras sponsored the Fundação Pró-Tamar from 1982 to 2021; the amount is not disclosed.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

Press and investigations

Researchers

  1. Marcovaldi and Chaloupka (2007), article on sea turtle nesting in Brazil (PDF copy)
    Marcovaldi and Chaloupka; copy hosted by WIDECAST · 2007

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