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Investments in environment are increasing in Brazilian companies. A study made by the National Confederation of Industries (CNI) of Brazil, shows that 74.5% of the companies, amongst those consulted in the research, have management procedures related to environmental management. In 2003, the figure was 70%.
According to the study, the main motivations of the investments in environment are to meet regulations and to be in agreement with the company's social policy. The latter item was indicated as the main reason by 69.8% of the large sized companies researched. The CNI study shows that the companies in the Southern region of Brazil are the ones that adopted environmental management the most: 79.8%. Next are the companies in the North (75.6%) and Northeast (74.1%). The sector most concerned with the issue is the chemical sector. The study reveals that 89.1% of the companies in the area take management procedures associated to the environment question. Leathers and furs, pharmaceutical products, rubber, paper and cardboard are also on the top of the list. The industry is also expanding investments in environment protection, according to the research. Between 2003 and 2005, there was an increase in 3.9 percentage points in the number of companies that invested in the area. Amongst the large sized companies, there is a larger number involved with the environment: 90.7% invest in the area. Amongst the small and medium enterprises, the number is smaller, 73.5%, but there was an increase in five percentage points in relation to 2003. According to the executive manager at the Industrial Competitiveness Unit at the CNI, Maurício Mendonça, the investments by the companies in environment protection is a trend. "The companies that wish to be competitive internationally need to be in accordance with the environmental norms," he stated. As well as that, the companies increased the value of the investments. The percentage of large companies that direct between 3% and 11% of their total investments to environmental protection increased 3 percentage points in the last two years, going from 38.1% in 2003 to 41.1% in 2005. According to the study, the forecast for 2006 is that the percentage of companies that direct resources to environment protection increase to approximately 80%. "These factors are yet another demonstration of the increasing importance given by the companies to sustainable development," says the document. The study was made with 1,240 small and medium sized companies and 212 large companies throughout the Brazil, between the 4th and 24th of January 2006. Agência CNI
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