In addition to scientific dissemination, the international event enabled the institution to contact other research centers, worldwide.
The RCGI participated in the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26), which this year was officially held from October 31 to November 12 in Glasgow, Scotland. The delegation representing the institution in what is one of the most important forums for discussing the planet’s climate was comprised of the RCGI’s Scientific Director, Julio Meneghini; the Director of Innovation and Technology Transfer, Gustavo Assi; and the Director of Human Resources and Leadership, Karen Mascarenhas.
Upon arrival, the RCGI presented its projects and also took part in the panel discussions of the Technology Driving Transition Global Summit, held simultaneously to COP26 at the University of Strathclyde, in Glasgow, November 1 to 3. The meeting was organized by Britain’s publicly and privately funded Net-Zero Technology Centre and involved 11 institutions from six countries. In addition to the United Kingdom, Brazil, The United States, Australia, Canada, and The Netherlands also participated. “Each country presented the technologies they are developing to obtain negative CO2 emissions. The RCGI was the only Brazilian and Latin American representative at the meeting,” Mascarenhas reported.
According to Assi, the RCGI showed how its portfolio of projects can contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions in Brazil. “We talk about the potential of these technologies from the standpoint of a Brazilian calling to do so, developed within our reality, on land (onshore) and in the ocean (offshore). Brazil has a good chance of becoming carbon neutral, perhaps even negative, if it manages to integrate its various industrial sectors. The carbon generated by the cement industry, for example, can be stored by the offshore oil industry,” pointed out the researcher, who is a Professor in the Department of Naval Engineering at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (Poli-USP).
Assi reports that the reception was incredibly positive. “The RCGI’s projects were exceptional grades by their peers, and it was clear that our work is not inferior to what other research centers are doing around the world. We are on the same level as they are.” Mascarenhas agrees. “It was a fantastic opportunity for the RCGI to strengthen ties and open the way for future partnerships with these research centers,” she says. Each institution left the simultaneous encounter with the mission to prepare a report of their technological projects related to energy transition. The purpose is to bring these proposals together in a study to be presented at COP27, which will likely take place next year, in Egypt.
The RCGI also attended and was engaged in the official COP26 program. For the panel “Supporting energy transition on the road to net-zero: Its impact on social-economic growth”, Mascarenhas spoke about the challenges of awareness and public perception regarding Brazil’s energy transition. She is also the Deputy Coordinator of the RCGI’s project “Social perception and scientific diplomacy in technological transitions to a low-carbon society.” “It is essential to create dialogue among all the players involved with climate issues, such as government, academia, industry, media, and society,” she said.
The panel “The Role of Academies and Science in Climate Change Policy Actions” included a lecture by Assi on the fundamental role of offshore technology in low-carbon energy transition in Brazil. And Julio Meneghini spoke about the importance of onshore technology in this same context on the panel “Brazil case study – Energy transition pathways to decarbonization and Net-Zero Challenges and opportunities.” Mascarenhas reports that “in the intervals between the three panels, we gave interviews that reinforced the dissemination of our projects and proposals.”
Meneghini was also on the “Industry and Nature” panel, held on November 9 at the Brazil Pavilion, the country’s official space at COP26, sponsored by the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry (CNI) and the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA). He spoke on “RCGI: an Engineering Research Center devoted to the development of solutions in NBS, CCU, BECCS, GHG, and the Public Perception of how to attack the causes of climate change.” This event was broadcast live on the Ministry of the Environment’s YouTube channel, which provided broad exposure of the Centre and its projects.
This was the RCGI’s second participation in COP, the first being in 2019. In 2021, the event attracted a record number of 40,000 people over two weeks. “COP26 gained significant weight from the release, in August, of the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) created by the United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization. That document warned of the worsening climate crisis in the world,” says Assi.
Young black and indigenous activists were singularly expressive at COP26. In the case of Brazil, these representatives gathered at the Brazil Climate Action Hub pavilion, which was an initiative of the non-governmental organizations Climate and Society Institute (iCS), ClimaInfo Institute, and the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM). “This movement extended well beyond the space where COP was based to cover the entire city, which hosted several simultaneous events, and witnessed public demonstrations,” Mascarenhas reported.
Ms. Mascarenhas took advantage of the event to expand her studies on the social perception of climate issues and recorded videos with COP26 participants, such as the indigenous Txai Suruí, who was the only Brazilian to speak at the opening of the event. Prof. Assi also live-streamed moments during COP26, which were posted through the RCGI’s Instagram account. “Ideas already exist for solving the problem of global warming. What we need now is to put them into practice, and that depends on political will, negotiations, and government incentives. Climate change is not a problem of merely one country, but for everyone. And a country that develops technology will have access to the global market,” Assi wrapped up.