Biotechnology and Sustainability as pillars for nature-based solutions in Brazil

This talk aims at discussing opportunities for bioeconomy in Brazil. We will illustrate how nature-based solutions can be pursued with a strategy that relies on biotechnology and sustainability as central pillars. We will emphasize the importance of developing biological systems in tandem with a sustainability platform to enable a paradigm change in the transformation and extractive industries, while promoting decarbonization, circular economy and conservation of biodiversity and other ecosystems.

Eduardo do Couto e Silva holds a PhD in physics from the University of Indiana (USA). He has vast experience in large multidisciplinary scientific projects, operating at particle accelerators, space satellites and underground facilities. He worked at world-class research organizations such as the European Center for High Energy Physics (CERN) in Switzerland and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, where he was a staff scientist and group leader. He also headed a research effort at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford University. In 2011, after 20 years abroad, he returned to Brazil to work at the Center for Strategic Studies and Management (CGEE) to develop science, technology, and innovation policies of national interest. In 2015 he joined the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) and coordinated CNPEM´s Innovation Unit. In 2018 he was appointed Director of the Brazilian Biorenewables National Laboratory (LNBR)