Quality education is a crucial structural challenge in Brazil. Over recent decades, the country has faced ongoing issues with access, retention in public schools, student achievement, and completing basic education. Suzano recognizes its role in this situation and has consistently worked to strengthen public education in the areas where it operates.

From 2020 to 2024, our efforts concentrated on enhancing education via the Suzano Education Program (PES). We supported advancements in educational management, the deployment of Education Development Arrangements (ADEs), and promoted intersectoral coordination among education, social assistance, and health sectors. During this time, we emphasized training educators, engaging families and communities, and developing collaborative solutions to address local educational challenges.

In 2025, Suzano evolved its approach, recognizing education as a key driver for reducing poverty and inequality. Consequently, the Education Strategy now focuses primarily on engaging young people.

Brazil has approximately 48 million young people, of whom 12.3 million live in poverty. Given this situation, investing in youth by connecting educational paths with a quality transition to employment becomes essential for enhancing poverty reduction efforts and addressing Brazil's social and economic needs. Therefore, strategies are shifting from primarily systemic approaches to include direct interventions targeting individuals, thereby amplifying social impact.

By integrating investments in education with productive inclusion strategies, Suzano enhances its ability to create lasting, structural impacts. This approach helps establish a more solid educational path for young people and broadens their chances of qualifying for the job market.

This strategic reorientation was developed based on internal assessments, benchmarking against more than 100 organizations, and active listening to experts and partners, such as Todos Pela Educação. As a result, the strategy now rests on two main pillars:

a) Successful School Career

• Coordinated efforts to ensure access, retention, quality learning, and completion of basic education for young people aged 14 to 24;
• Active Search projects to address truancy and school dropout, focusing on the institutionalization of the Intersectoral School Active Search Committees and a pilot program in Mato Grosso do Sul;
• Specialized technical advice to public managers, including municipal and state secretaries, aimed at strengthening inter-municipal and intersectoral governance, such as the Education Development Arrangements (ADEs).

b) Productive Inclusion of Young People

• Technical and vocational training initiatives and expanding opportunities for young people to enter the job market, with a focus on creating opportunities within Suzano's value chain and partner companies;
• Institutional partnerships and co-investment models aimed at connecting education with employability;
• Integration of the social component into Suzano's talent attraction strategy, increasing access for young people in the territories to apprenticeship programs, internships, and entry-level positions.

Following this strategic shift, Suzano will cease monitoring the Ideb as a measure of the Commitment to Renew Life starting in 2026. The revised Education Strategy will be formally aligned with the Poverty Alleviation Strategy, embodying a more relevant approach to current educational challenges and the company's goal of enhancing social mobility for young people in its operational territories.

The Ideb has increased in Brazilian municipalities prioritized through the Suzano Education Program (PES). These priority municipalities are those involved in the PES that, in 2019, had a baseline assessment index below the national target (Ideb below 6.0).

Increase IDEB by 40% in all municipalities considered to be priorities³ - from 4.6 to 6.6 by 2030.

The Ideb, which serves as a benchmark for monitoring the Progress of the Commitment, is published biannually by the federal government. In 2025, the assessment was conducted solely in October, with the results scheduled for publication in the latter half of 2026. Consequently, the Ideb was not published in 2025.
 

Results of the new Education Strategy 2025:

Following the strategic redirection implemented in 2025, aligned with the two pillars - Successful School Career and Productive Inclusion of Young People - we achieved the following results:
 

• 25 municipalities across four states (BA, ES, MA, and MS) received technical advice for managers and educational teams;
• 322 individuals directly participated in training on educational management and active school search;
• 91,915 people, including students, school managers, and teachers from the municipal networks served, benefited;
• 274 public schools were reached;
• Over 10,000 students gained productive inclusion through technical-vocational training and/or entry into the job market, including opportunities within Suzano's value chain.

Starting in 2026, Suzano will cease tracking the IDEB as a Commitment indicator and integrate the Education agenda with Poverty Alleviation efforts. With a unified framework and an aligned investment portfolio, the company will focus on boosting outcomes in education, employability, and income, thereby reinforcing long-term impacts in the communities.