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Join the King's Brazil Institute for a discussion on Brazil's COP 30 ten years after the Paris Agreement, as part of Brazil Week 2025. Dr Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos, Bruno Quick, Dr Anit Mukherjee, Dr Claudia Fragoso de Oliveira Sarmento, Dr Lia Kajiki, Barbara Abrahao, Artur Falcette, Fernanda Gimenes, and Anderson Marcio de Oliveira will be attending the event as speakers.

Please note that this event will be held in Portuguese.

Following the event, Dr Andreza de Souza Santos wrote a blog outlining the discussion and asking key questions to be answered by this year's COP30.

About the speakers

Bruno Quick, SEBRAE

Bruno Quick is a Civil Engineer from Minas Gerais Education Foundation and Specialist in Public Policy from University of Campinas. A large experience as coordinator of Sebrae Nacional Legislative Advisory and responsible for actions aimed at leverage of business environment, especially practices and partnerships related to actualize the Micro and Small Business National Act. Currently, he is Technical Director at Sebrae Nacional, with strong influence in innovation, local development, and entrepreneurial education. He is responsible for leading the national bioeconomy hub located in Pará, which seeks to merge efforts and partnerships capable of reconciling economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability, especially in the Amazon region. At COP30, Sebrae aims to demonstrate how an integrated approach between innovation, traditional knowledge, and responsible use of biodiversity can generate new opportunities for small businesses and local communities.

Dr Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos

Dr Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos is a leading scholar on the socio-political dimensions of mining and its environmental legacies in Latin America. Currently the Director of the King's Brazil Institute at King’s, she previously led the Brazilian Studies Programme at the University of Oxford. Her research critically examines how mining intersects with cultural heritage, local governance, and environmental justice, particularly in Brazil. In her article “Trading Time and Space: Grassroots Negotiations in a Brazilian Mining District,” she explores the complex negotiations between mining companies, local communities, and policy councils, highlighting how participatory governance can both empower and intimidate communities facing environmental degradation and economic dependency. Additionally, her book “The Politics of Memory,” she delves into the colonial and racialized histories of the mining town Ouro Preto, arguing for a more inclusive recognition of mining’s environmental and social harms in public narratives. Dr de Souza Santos’s work is pivotal in rethinking extractivism and its implications for climate justice, offering insights into how historical and contemporary mining practices shape environmental policies and community resilience.

Dr Anit Mukherjee

Dr Anit Mukherjee is a Senior Fellow at the ORF America where he leads the program on global economics and development policy. Dr Mukherjee graduated in economics and politics from Presidency University, Kolkata, completed his MA in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and holds a PhD in Policy and Planning Sciences from the University of Tsukuba, Japan. His academic work has been published in leading journals such as Nature, Conservation Letters, Agricultural Economics and Journal of Asian Economics. He is the co-author of Social Sector in a Decentralized Economy: India in the Era of Globalization published by Cambridge University Press in 2016 and has contributed papers in several edited volumes on economic growth and development. Originally from India, Dr Mukherjee has lived and worked in Japan, Brazil, Yemen and Sri Lanka. He is an avid traveler and speaks seven languages.

Dr Claudia Fragoso de Oliveira Sarmento

Dr Claudia Sarmento is a journalist and researcher with a PhD in Media and Communication from the University of Westminster. She is currently undertaking a MSCA Global Fellowship, funded by UKRI, in partnership between King's and PUC-Rio. Her research investigates how journalism addresses the climate crisis through a social justice-oriented lens, with an emphasis on Brazilian narratives and comparative perspectives across Latin America. Her research aligns with broader discussions on climate justice and environmental communication. The upcoming COP 30, to be held in the Brazilian Amazon, offers a valuable opportunity to examine how both mainstream and alternative media engage with issues that go beyond official statements and diplomatic agendas. It invites reflection on how journalism can frame structural inequalities and amplify voices from the margins within global climate conversations.

Dr Lia Kajiki, Amazon Charitable Trust

Dr Kajiki, a PhD in Ecology from the University of Brasilia, has been leading research and conservation projects in the Brazilian Amazon for over 10 years and runs the Amazon Charitable Trust, an NGO supporting river-dwellers in protecting the Amazon forest. The Amazon Charitable Trust (ACT) partners with river-dwellers of the Rio Branco-Jauaperi region, empowering them as leaders in conservation through sustainable livelihoods and scientific collaboration. By bridging local communities with global universities, ACT facilitates research expeditions and ecotourism—generating income opportunities as the main mechanism for effective forest conservation. At COP30, we aim to expand this model, demonstrating how science-community partnerships can deliver scalable climate solutions.

Barbara Abrahao

Barbara is a PhD candidate in the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography at the University of Oxford. Her ethnography took place in a quilombo in the Brazilian Amazonia, where carbon credits are being produced for the voluntary carbon market. Barbara’s work explores the translations between quilombola lifeworlds and climate finance in the context of the climate crisis. She examines how quilombolas’ relationship with their forest and social organisation are shaped by — and simultaneously shape — the carbon economy and its political dimensions. Barbara holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and has previously worked at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

Artur Falcette

Artur Falcette is Deputy Secretary of Environment, Development, Science, Technology, and Innovation of Mato Grosso do Sul. He received his MBA from the Federal University of Viçosa and was a PhD candidate and Master’s degree holder from UFGD, focusing on Behavioural Economics and Decision-Making. His postgraduate studies were done at Ohio University, and he is a Specialist in Financial and Project Management, and University Professor.

Fernanda Gimenes

Fernanda is an expert in sustainable finance and climate policy, with over a decade of experience working at the intersection of environmental governance, finance, and international development. She currently works as Engagement Manager for the Innovative Finance for the Amazon, Cerrado and Chaco (IFACC) initiative, where she leads initiatives on innovative finance to promote zero-deforestation and sustainable land use in Latin America. Fernanda is completing a PhD in Environmental Policy and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where her research focused on Brazil’s climate finance institutions. She has previously held positions at the United Nations Environment Programme and the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development, and has actively participated in major international conferences, including the UNFCCC and CBD COPs.

Anderson Marcio de Oliveira

Deputy Secretary, Secretary of Environment, Infrastructure and Logistics of Sao Paulo

Master in Regulatory Law and Public Law, with extensive experience in structuring infrastructure projects in the railway, port, and electric energy sectors. Worked in the Project Structuring Department of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and as a lawyer analysing financing operations using funds from the Amazon Fund, established by the Norwegian Government to support rainforest preservation. Served as a director in the Investment Partnerships Program of the Presidency of the Republic, responsible for overseeing and structuring projects related to the electric energy sector, including generation, transmission, and distribution. Also worked at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, advising the Executive Secretary in coordinating actions across the electric energy, oil and gas, and mining sectors.

About King's Brazil Week

Hosted by the King's Brazil Institute, King’s Brazil Week is an annual celebration of all things Brazilian.

During Brazil Week 2025, we discuss the emergence of new institutional frameworks and leadership models. When traditional powers lean toward authoritarianism, can cities and the Global South take the lead in securing effective global governance?

Find out more about Brazil Week