The second event of the week was organized by CEBRI’s Energy Transition Program, co-hosted with Catavento Consultoria, the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA), and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP). The event gathered representatives from the private sector, academia, government, civil society, and specialized energy agencies for discussions across four dedicated panels.
The first panel was a roundtable on sectoral pathways to mitigate emissions in the energy sector, held within the framework of the second phase of the “Energy Transition Program.” Led by CEBRI in partnership with the IDB, BNDES, Cenergia (COPPE/UFRJ), EPE, FIPE (USP), and MRTS, the program seeks to identify feasible pathways for Brazil to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
In its second phase (2024–2025), the initiative focuses on updating the scenarios developed in 2023, assessing their macroeconomic impacts, modeling power balances to ensure system reliability, testing the feasibility of projected renewable penetration, and building sectoral roadmaps with public policy recommendations. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the cost-efficient implementation of Brazil’s climate targets while fostering socioeconomic development and positioning the country as a global reference in sustainable solutions.
At the session, Rafaela Guedes, Senior Fellow at CEBRI and International Consultant at APCO, presented preliminary findings from the study, along with roadmaps and trends for energy sector decarbonization.
Clarissa Lins, Chair of CEBRI’s Energy Transition Program and Founding Partner at Catavento, emphasized the importance of Brazil’s integration into global low-carbon energy value chains. Heloisa Borges, Director of Oil, Gas, and Biofuels Studies at EPE, stressed the critical role of investment in energy efficiency. Ricardo Gorini, Head of ReMap at IRENA, underscored the strategic value of electrification in the energy transition, as well as the importance of regional cooperation to unlock South America’s energy potential. From the private sector, Claudia Brun, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Equinor, highlighted that scaling up carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies requires a regulated market in close partnership with private stakeholders. Contributions from the broader audience were also collected, with the aim of integrating them into the final PTE2 report.
The second panel presented the main findings of the study “Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels: A Broader Perspective to Foster Implementation,” conducted by Catavento Consultoria with support from the Institute for Climate and Society (iCS) and the Brazilian Petroleum and Gas Institute (IBP). Discussions addressed the structural challenges of the transition in countries dependent on the oil and gas industry, as well as potential pathways to scale up low-carbon technologies.
Clarissa Lins presented the study’s key results. Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, President of COP30, highlighted how the findings relate to Saudi and Chinese concerns on energy independence and praised the inclusion of coal as a distinct issue compared to other fossil fuels. Ana Toni, CEO of COP30, emphasized the regional and sectoral insights offered by the research.
André Clark, Senior Vice President at Siemens Energy Latin America and Vice President at Siemens Energy Brazil, stressed that energy efficiency is not only a matter of productivity but also a cornerstone of decarbonization. He also pointed to the importance of advanced technologies—such as next-generation grids and nuclear innovation—as critical enablers of the transition. Bringing the oil and gas perspective, Viviana Coelho, Executive Manager for Climate Change at Petrobras, noted the difficulty of acting in isolation and underscored the need for a robust action agenda to mobilize private-sector engagement. Alice Amorim, Program Director at COP30, called for effective measures to implement the transition and stressed the importance of building critical mass to drive Brazil’s own strategy beyond COP30.
The third panel, like the first, was dedicated to the second phase of the Energy Transition Program (PTE2). On this occasion, the focus was on pathways to reduce emissions in the transport sector. Rafaela Guedes once again presented the data, while moderation was conducted by Guilherme Dantas, Senior Research Fellow at CEBRI and Partner at Essenz Soluções.
Ambassador Michel Arslanian Neto, Brazil’s Representative to the ICAO Council, emphasized the urgency for Brazil to advance in the adoption of sustainable aviation fuels, underscoring the country’s potential for the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and its opportunities for economic development. Subsequently, Erica Marcos, Executive Environmental Manager at the National Confederation of Transport (CNT), referred to the Future Fuels Law (Law 14.993/2024) and stressed the importance of investment in innovation, waste management, cost reduction, and the scalability of sustainable solutions.
Tiago Ferreira, Head of Logistics and Transport at BNDES, offered valuable contributions on the study’s categorizations and highlighted the need to improve efficiency across the transport sector. Measures such as highway modernization, he noted, directly enhance efficiency and thereby reduce emissions. As with the first panel, the purpose of this session was to ensure that these contributions will be incorporated into the final PTE2 report.
The final panel addressed energy poverty in Latin America. André Dias, Director of Universal Energy Access at Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), outlined the milestones and achievements of the Luz para Todos program since its inception, highlighting its social and economic impacts and providing updated data on electrification.
Valcléia Lima, Superintendent of Sustainable Community Development at the Fundação Amazônia Sustentável (FAS), delivered an inspiring intervention on the challenges of addressing energy poverty in remote Amazon communities.
Tiago Ivanoski, Director of Economic, Energy, and Environmental Studies at EPE, presented initiatives including the Brazilian Energy Poverty Observatory (OBEPE). From the private sector, Solange Ribeiro, Vice President at Neoenergia and Vice-Chair at the UN Global Compact, showcased initiatives in Brazil’s Northeast, such as the training of women electricians. Luisa Valentim, Brazil Lead at GEAPP, reinforced the urgency of universal energy access, noting that 685 million people worldwide remain without electricity—an exclusion that undermines access to water, food, education, and other basic rights.
All panelists emphasized electricity as a cornerstone for socioeconomic development in vulnerable communities, illustrating with real cases how electrification drives job creation and income generation. Roberta Cox, Director for COP30 at the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA), moderated the session, underscoring the strategic relevance of the issue for the global climate agenda.
