INTERNET CONNECTIVITY, JOBS AND THE END OF DEFORESTATION ECONOMIES
December 7th, 2022 at 3:30pm ET
Highspeed Internet is coming to the remote Amazon and could change everything. As more people find work online, why not at the deforestation frontier? As connectivity improves opportunity, what industries will succeed? Who can lead this economic transition? Can forest carbon financing subsidize the workforce development and re-skilling process?
Tasso Azevedo
Forest People’s Connection Project
Azevedo is a forest engineer graduate from University of São Paulo and was the founder and director of the Institute of Forest and Agriculture Management and Certification (IMAFLORA), the largest Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and sustainable agriculture certification body in Brazil. He was director of the National Forest Program at Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment and general-secretary of the National Forest Commission. He was the first chief and director general of the Brazilian Forest Service and one of the key people involved in the design and implementation of the National Plan to Combat Deforestation, which resulted in a 75% decline in deforestation, and the Amazon Fund, the world’s largest forest protection fund. Azevedo serves as a board member on several organizations including the Business Forum on Climate Change, NEPCon, Imazon, IMAFLORA, and IEMA.
Julia Bussab Fonseca
Climática
Júlia is a Mechanical Engineer with an MSc in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She has worked with the Environmental Licensing Process (EIA) of the Belo Monte dam in Brazil, leading consultation processes and managing the adaptation projects implemented with Amazonian indigenous communities impacted by the dam. Most recently, Júlia focused her work in Aquatera on designing and implementing collaborative projects with multiple stakeholders to address energy transition processes. She is interested in climate change adaptation and mitigation tailored with gender inclusion and the SDGs by designing and implementing transformational strategies with multiple stakeholders.
Cassia Moraes
Climate-KIC
Cassia serves as the Partnerships and Outreach Manager at Climate KIC (Strategic Programmes), the largest public-private partnership to foster climate innovation in Europe. In 2018, she founded Youth Climate Leaders, an organization that fosters climate action and careers by training and connecting young people with networks and opportunities to start their careers as climate leaders. She is a member of the Regional Coordinating Committee (LatAm), UNDRR’s MCR2030 initiative: cities and climate change, and Professor of Sustainable Development Policies at the Burgundy School of Business. Previously, she served as Deputy Executive Coordinator at the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change, and worked as a consultant at CIVICUS, UNDP, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). She holds an MPA in Development Practice degree from Columbia University.
Jochai Ben-Avie
Connect Humanity Fund
Jochai Ben-Avie is the Co-Founder and CEO of Connect Humanity. He also serves as a Non-Resident Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Truman National Security Fellow, a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, and a Board Member of Code for Science & Society where he chairs the Audit & Finance Committee. Jochai was previously Mozilla’s Head of International Public Policy and lead of the Firefox maker’s open source funding arm. Connect Humanity supports, catalyzes, and scales holistic solutions providing people with the internet access and means needed to participate fully in a digital society. The organization provides a spectrum of philanthropic support and impact investing capital to advance digital equity. Their approach centers on non-traditional operators and civil society organizations who demonstrate progress in connecting historically underserved communities, pioneering efforts to make the internet more affordable, providing digital literacy training, and more.
Daniel Grynberg
Mais Unidos / Transforming Lives through Connectivity in the Amazon
Daniel Grynberg graduated in Business Administration from Insper. He was director of Quintessa, a business accelerator with a social impact, worked at SOMOS Educação and also started his own business. Daniel was also Brazil Portfolio Manager at Yunus Negócios Sociais. Grupo +Unidos is a collaborative social investment fund formed by Brazilian multinational corporations, in partnership with USAID (United States Agency for International Development). Our focus in the public education and professional improvement of young Brazilians. We aim to boost educational and professional development projects for the work market of the 21st century.
