Company: BCDRF
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0000891478-25-000054
Chunk: 65

Company: Banco Santander, S.A.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 20-F
Chunk 65
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ander also uses Internet-based satellite-imaging tools Global Forest Watch and MapBiomas to track the detailed loss of tree cover on customers’ farms and ranches over time. Collaborating with initiatives to stop deforestation Febraban Protocol for livestock in the Amazon Santander actively collaborates with customers, governments, regulators and NGOs to tackle illegal deforestation. Santander Brasil is a member of Febraban’s committee on forestry and agribusiness. We have been seeking commitments from beef processing customers in the Amazon since 2020. In 2021, Santander Brasil began engaging with more than a dozen of these customers to tackle illegal deforestation linked to their supply chain by 2025. Santander Brasil, along with other banks, shared lessons learnt with Febraban, which lead to the creation of the sectorial protocol - SARB 026/2023 - in March 2023, which sets the standards for managing the risk of illegal deforestation in the bovine meat chain. The protocol defined guidelines to be adopted by its signatories. By signing the protocol, Santander has aligned its objective with that of the Brazilian financial industry, and has been engaging with its meatpacking customers. This requires beef processing customers with slaughterhouses in the Brazilian Legal Amazon region to end illegal deforestation by December 2025, both from direct suppliers of cattle and Tier 1 indirect suppliers, and demonstrate progress against. They also must meet mid-term milestones. Signatory banks must monitor the implementation of actions by the deadlines stipulated by the regulation, reviewing customers' public reports on the dates established by the protocol and taking measures based on the content published by beef processing customers. Since the objective was established, Santander has actively engaged with all beef processing customers affected by the protocol, leveraging our technical expertise to assist in developing their traceability plans and reports. We monitored their progress reports throughout 2024, and by the December 2023 deadline 100% of eligible customers had been verified for protocol compliance. For those who did not initially present the required plans, credit limits were temporarily suspended and reinstated

Annual report 2024 57

| Contents |     | Business model and strategy |     | Sustainability statement |     | Corporate governance |     | Economic and financial review |     | Riskmanagement and compliance |

only upon compliance. We will continue to act accordingly and monitor compliance with the milestones set by the Febraban protocol, checking adherence to the implementation timeline. RTRS and MBPS Santander Brasil takes part in two other external initiatives that propose