INSEAD partners with Brazil Climate Summit to launch inaugural European edition in Paris

INSEAD, The Business School for the World, announced today its official partnership with Brazil Climate Summit to launch its first edition in Europe. Scheduled for 27 May in Paris, the event aims to foster connections between Brazilian and European stakeholders and to explore Brazil’s potential as a hub of low-carbon solutions for the world.  

The Brazil Climate Summit Europe 2024 comes shortly after French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Brazil, which resulted, among other outcomes, in the announcement of a €1 billion investment programme in the Amazon’s bioeconomy.

As the world combats with climate change, Brazil emerges as an important player with its abundant renewable resources and commitment to sustainability. The event will bring together Brazilian, French and European businesses with the objective to explore cases and business opportunities in sectors where Brazil has a competitive advantage, such as biofuels, green hydrogen, and sustainable green investments.

Prof. Francisco Veloso, Dean of INSEAD, will open the event alongside Ricardo Neiva Tavares, the Ambassador of Brazil in France. Dean Veloso says: “At INSEAD, we believe in the power of collaboration and knowledge-sharing to drive meaningful impact, and we are excited to contribute to this important dialogue.” 

“The summit will showcase another Brazil, the one with solutions with the potential to reduce emissions globally and benefit both Brazilian and European businesses”, says Jorge Hargrave, one of the Brazil Climate Summit cofounders. 

A key highlight of the summit is the keynote session with the launch of an INSEAD case study ’The Next 100 Years of Suzano’. Developed by Felipe Monteiro, INSEAD Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy, the case focuses on Suzano, the largest pulp manufacturer globally and one of Latin America’s leading companies. This session will feature a fireside chat between Walter Schalka, CEO of Suzano, and Prof. Monteiro. They will explore Suzano’s sustainability journey that led them to become a bioproducts leader via sustainable and innovative solutions from renewable sources, impacting the everyday lives of more than 2 billion people with exports to more than 100 countries.

Prof. Monteiro comments, “I look forward to discussing with Walter Schalka the key insights of this fascinating new INSEAD case study on Suzano’s Innovability Transformation. Our research at INSEAD is closely tied to real-world business challenges. I hope that this case will contribute valuable perspective to sustainable business practices.”

The event, organised in partnership with students from the INSEAD and HEC, will convene over 100 global leaders, policymakers, investors and industry experts, including:
•    Sébastien Clerc, CEO of Voltalia
•    Izabella Teixeira, former Minister of the Environment of Brazil
•    Marcelo Paiva, Co-Founder at A10 Invest, Co-chairman of the Sigma Lithium
•    Laurence Tubiana, President and CEO of the European Climate Foundation
•    Katell Le Goulven, Founding Executive Director of the INSEAD Hoffmann Institute
•    Aloysio Nunes, Head of Strategic Affairs at ApexBrasil and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil
•    Antonio Uras, Partner at ADVISIA OC&C, President of the INSEAD Alumni Association Brazil 
•    Patricia Ellen, Co-Founder of Aya Earth, Managing Partner Systemiq LATAM

The Brazil Climate Summit is an initiative driven by a collective movement that focuses on mobilising the national private sector to position the country as a hub for climate solutions. The first two editions of the event in New York have attracted over a thousand attendees, including investors and entrepreneurs from Brazil, The US and Europe.

For more information and the complete programme of the event, visit here.