Tiego Freitas
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Department of Geography,
4th Floor, King’s College London, Strand
London, WC2R 2LS
tiago.freitas@klc.ac.uk
4th Floor, King’s College London, Strand
London, WC2R 2LS
tiago.freitas@klc.ac.uk
Research
Connecting bio-fuel and climate change policies in a context of resource geopolitics: the case of Brazil
Bio-fuels are a major and growing element of Brazilian geopolitics. They not only provide a replacement for fossil fuels thereby underpinning national energy security, but also generate many local jobs even while they increase Brazilian exports and influence in the world.
In addition, bio-fuels are an important if yet little understood option in Brazilian climate change policy insofar as they present the country with the potential for significant greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions because they are ‘cleaner’ fuels. However, once land-use related emissions from energy crop production are accounted for, this environmental payoff is certainly somewhat diluted underscoring one area where bio-fuel and climate change objectives may clash – and once again emphasizing the need for scholarship in this under-researched yet increasingly pivotal sector.
My PhD project thus aims to examine how the Brazilian bio-fuel effort is intertwined with Brazilian climate change policy dynamics. Two case studies will analyse this interaction in the different production pathways of bio-ethanol and bio-diesel, as well as the wider implications of such policy interaction.
As one of the first ever studies to examine this sort of policy interaction, the present project links two pressing international issues in a novel way to assess how they interact. It will also provide the first in-depth analysis of this process in a Brazilian context - a world bio-fuel leader.
Bio-fuels are a major and growing element of Brazilian geopolitics. They not only provide a replacement for fossil fuels thereby underpinning national energy security, but also generate many local jobs even while they increase Brazilian exports and influence in the world.
In addition, bio-fuels are an important if yet little understood option in Brazilian climate change policy insofar as they present the country with the potential for significant greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions because they are ‘cleaner’ fuels. However, once land-use related emissions from energy crop production are accounted for, this environmental payoff is certainly somewhat diluted underscoring one area where bio-fuel and climate change objectives may clash – and once again emphasizing the need for scholarship in this under-researched yet increasingly pivotal sector.
My PhD project thus aims to examine how the Brazilian bio-fuel effort is intertwined with Brazilian climate change policy dynamics. Two case studies will analyse this interaction in the different production pathways of bio-ethanol and bio-diesel, as well as the wider implications of such policy interaction.
As one of the first ever studies to examine this sort of policy interaction, the present project links two pressing international issues in a novel way to assess how they interact. It will also provide the first in-depth analysis of this process in a Brazilian context - a world bio-fuel leader.
Supervisors
Raymond Bryant, Richard Schofield
Biography
Tiago was born in the Azores archipelago, Portugal. He studied in the Escola Basica Integrada de Sao Roque to Pico and at the age of 18 he moved to Lisbon to study Biology.
Tiago holds a B.Sc. degree in Environmental Biology from the University of Lisbon (final mark of 16 out of 20), a specialization in Environmental Sciences and Technologies from the same University (final mark of 17 out of 20) and a M.A. in International Politics from Universite de Paris XI in partnership with CERIS, Brussels (Centre Europeen de Recherches Internationales et Strategiques). His Master thesis ‘The Role of Brazil in the Climate Change Negotiations’, was marked Magna Cum Laude.
In 2000 he was selected to represent Portugal in the London International Youth Science Forum.
Tiago started working in 2004 on small projects for the ICAT (Institute for Applied Science, Lisbon), focusing mainly environmental impact assessments and eco-tourism.
He then moved to Brussels where he worked for 6 years in the European Parliament, firstly as a parliamentary advisor in the fields of Agriculture and Rural Development, Environment and Climate Change and afterwards as a research analyst for Structural and Cohesion Policies.
Tiago holds a B.Sc. degree in Environmental Biology from the University of Lisbon (final mark of 16 out of 20), a specialization in Environmental Sciences and Technologies from the same University (final mark of 17 out of 20) and a M.A. in International Politics from Universite de Paris XI in partnership with CERIS, Brussels (Centre Europeen de Recherches Internationales et Strategiques). His Master thesis ‘The Role of Brazil in the Climate Change Negotiations’, was marked Magna Cum Laude.
In 2000 he was selected to represent Portugal in the London International Youth Science Forum.
Tiago started working in 2004 on small projects for the ICAT (Institute for Applied Science, Lisbon), focusing mainly environmental impact assessments and eco-tourism.
He then moved to Brussels where he worked for 6 years in the European Parliament, firstly as a parliamentary advisor in the fields of Agriculture and Rural Development, Environment and Climate Change and afterwards as a research analyst for Structural and Cohesion Policies.
Dissertations
The role of Brazil in the climate change negotiations – Master of Arts in International Politics, CERIS in partnership with Universite de Paris XI – Brussels, 2007.
Funding
Tiago holds a doctoral scholarship from the Portuguese Government (Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia). Previously he received a grant from Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian.
