Climate change is not only a problem of futurity, changing the planet and ways of life for generations to come. From fires to floods, droughts to storms, the impacts of climate-driven weather events are evident and experienced right now, in different forms around the globe.
Please join us for a roundtable conversation about this year’s flooding in Brazil and how climate change is affecting the country.
Panellists:
Dr. Alice Evatt (Oxford Net Zero, Environmental Change Institute)
Dr. Alice Evatt is a Research Fellow on Net Zero for the Fossil Fuel Sector at Oxford Net Zero and the Environmental Change Institute. Alice is an expert on climate policy and climate ethics, with a special expertise in emergency and disaster theory. Her work is currently focused on innovative carbon management policy design and scaling geological storage.
Talk Abstract: Despite the widespread use of the term “climate emergency,” we have still not seen any emergency action. Moreover, climate change does seem different from paradigmatic emergencies, like fires, tsunamis and floods. This forces as to ask the question: is climate change a genuine emergency, or is it better understood as an ongoing crisis requiring a different response? Answers to this question will shape the way we approach climate change and its policy solutions.
Dr. Neil Hart (Physical Geography, University of Oxford)
Neil is a South African by birth and education, who now leads a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship project, First Rains. He is part of wider efforts to estimate emerging climate risks and where possible, build systems to anticipate to mitigate such risks, especially over southern Africa and South America.
Talk Abstract: Livelihoods across monsoonal climates have always had exposure to climate risks. However, “too little rain, and then too much” is already experienced and only projected to intensify. I will comment rain-fed agriculture in Africa, low flows in the Zambezi and Rio Negro rivers, and recent flood events, everywhere.
Dr. Anthony Calacino (Climate Vulnerability Project, University of Oxford)
Anthony Calacino is a political scientist specializing in the political economy of environmental pollution and public opinion on climate change. His research focuses on Brazil and broader Latin America, analyzing how political forces shape environmental policy in these regions. He is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford and a Fellow at Nuffield College.
Talk Abstract: In recent months, Brazil’s Amazon region has been ravaged by widespread fires, climate-driven droughts, and suffocating smoke that blankets large parts of the country. Climate change is no longer a distant threat; it has arrived in the Amazon. This talk will explore the Brazilian government’s response to the escalating climate crisis and its impact on the daily lives of citizens in this critical region, with a focus on governance challenges and societal consequences.
Dr. Ana Paula Khoury (Mackenzie University & Itaim Paulist Laboratory, Universidade São Judas Tadeu)
Professor at Mackenzie University’s graduate program, with a postdoc from USP’s Brazilian Cultures and Identities program (2018). Urban Future Making (DFG-2024) fellow, Fulbright Visiting Scholar in Global Cities (2016), and Klimapolis Lab member (USP/MPI Hamburg, 2019-2024). Leads the Itaim Paulista Lab, engaging local government and students since 2017.
Talk Abstract: The Itaim Paulista Laboratory in São Paulo, Brazil, is a university extension project studying the region’s social and environmental challenges since 2017. Located in a vulnerable area near the Tietê River’s protected zone, it focuses on governance issues in a pilot community within the Lageado watershed.
Juliana Moura Bueno (Public Policy and Government Affairs, Google)
Juliana is Google’s public policy manager. She coordinates the relationship between the company and government and leads Google’s efforts in this cycle of the G20 and COP30. She was Chief of Staff of the Secretariat of Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic (2015-2016) and Acting Secretary of Human Rights of the Federal Government (2016).
