About this ATalk
Gualter Crisostomo, Co-Founder of Innovathon, Entrepreneur, Mobilizer of the SDGs and the UN 2030 Agenda, Facilitator of innovation ecosystems, shares with us his experience in sustainability.
In this talk he discusses how to implement sustainability in the company’s strategy and why it is necessary to do so.
He talks about the importance of the oceans and how they can help us achieve our current sustainability goals.
He also gives clues on how technology is a fundamental ally in any sustainability strategy.
Transcript
Joana Alves, Co- Founder at APLANET, interviewed Gualter Crisostomo for this ATALK. You can find the full transcript of their conversation below.
| Joana Alves | Welcome to ATALKS. Where sustainability has a voice, so at APLANET, we have created this space. So we can discuss the most important sustainability hot topics and for that we interview relevant sustainability professionals from different sectors and different geographies so that they can share their experience with us. And today we are delighted to have Walter Crisostomo with us from Portugal as a guest and to introduce our guest speaker,Walter Crisostomo is the director of organizational sustainability at CEiiA. CEiiA is a center of engineering and product development that Walter will have the opportunity to explain further or what is the core business of the center and he’s also the CEO of the Company for Life, which is a CEO as a spinoff in the health area. And he’s the member of the Board of Directors of Blue Inside, which is another, say, a startup. Additionally to this, he’s one of the Co founders of innovation, which is a technology marathon that aims to promote the SDG’s in new generations, and he was invited to collaborate directly with the government of Portugal in the Organization of the UN Ocean Conference 2022. He was also responsible for involving the Portuguese private sector in promoting ocean sustainability, and he’s the author of several scientific articles and papers on topics related to renovation, sustainability, ethics and integrity. So Walter, you have an amazing CV. It’s a pleasure to have you with you, with us here today. |
| Gualter Crisostomo | Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure is mine and thank you to APLANET for this initiative because I think these initiatives are important not only for engage companies but also to engage the citizens there and to talk these issues and to clarify all the concepts related to sustainability and all the taxonomy involved in these topics, I think is a very great initiative and congratulation what you are doing in APLANET. |
| Joana | Thank you, Gualter. We appreciate it. So as I said in the beginning, we our objective is that this is a space where we can invite top professionals such as yourself in sustainability so we can discuss different topics. But it’s supposed to be an informal conversation. So it will be a pleasure and I know that you have a lot of insights that… and that you will teach us many things today. So I always like to begin with asking our guests about their sustainability journey. So I know that you have started working in sustainability for many years now. So I want you to tell us a bit more about how did you make this shift to work in sustainability and how has your sustainability journey been for this last years? |
| Gualter | Yeah, yeah, this is been a great adventure. But when I start to work in sustainability, I start to work in not in the perspective of the environment, but more in the perspective of governance and the social impact of projects. So the almost the 12 years ago I start to look the project that we have been made insighted, and how we can make that project project more transparency because we receive public funds. And if we receive a public funds, I thought in that moment that we should tell to the public and to the Portuguese and citizens how we expand our labor. And that was the first topic that I started to work in that time. And we don’t speak about sustainability, we speak about corporate, governance, transparency, to fight corruption… I started more in that dimension and it was very interesting and it said at the same time as says engineering said center rule developed technology, we also work out technology can reduce the gap between the rich and the poors. How can we the impact of the technology to reduce that gap? So we start and I start to work and looking to that 2 dimension and during that. I met that person which was John Aiken who was the father of the triple bottom line and we start to to work with him. And I started working him, and I knew the three dimension, the environment, environmental dimension, the governments or economic dimension and social dimension, and that was the moment where I was more involved in general can end it was click to change my mindset not only to be focused in the governments or the impact, but also how the technology that we are evolving can also have an impact in the environment. And we’ll start to work with him and in some projects, we start to work to sustainability in these three dimension, their environment, the impact, the social impact and all the governments as a whole and we start to work together in these projects and it was very interesting because at the same time since the people, we have that in our DNA and it was interesting because with that lecture we let the expertise of him help us to organize the ideas and to put the correct ideas in the correct place. And it was amazing how in our company we could grow and to see the sustainability not as a marketing issue, but it’s a strategic issue, and for us since the beginning that we start and we exchange and we understand almost 12 years ago the importance of sustainability. We thought that this is not a brand thing, is a strategic thing and we start seeing that to put the sustainability in our plans of strategy and not in the marketing area. For example, sustainability issues never been in the marketing area always been in the board of the company and I was responsible of the sustainable insisted beginning and my direct coordinator is the CEO of CEiiA. So it’s a strategic thing that we do in CEiiA and that’s issue which is very important that we need to use sustainability as a lighthouse for our strategy in our company because the sustainability cannot help us, but also to reduce costs in our companies, but also to be more efficient, also to be more integrated in this society, also to be more transparency, but also to contribute to a better world in the environment. And that is a very important, the companies today that use sustainability as a brand, but if they don’t do walk the talk they are going to die in a few years. And the shift it was that we understand very early some 10 years ago the importance of these three dimension what we do in our days not only in the company but even as a citizen in our routines, entirely routines. How we can impact positive in these three dimensions: in the environment and be transparency and also our actions. What is social impact they can have also in our community, in our neighborhood or in our company. And if we are in our company what impacts our company can do in the our community, in the environment and how our company can be responsible to to share uh the results, to share everything to our stakeholders and that’s an important thing that we think that is very interesting what we are doing. |
| Joana | I think you just gave amazing insights because I think that nowadays companies are still waiting for legislation to oblige them to disclose their non financial information. So Portugal is a country of SME’s, so not all companies are obliged yet by the directive. So they’re waiting until this obligation comes, but they don’t understand that sustainability actually means profit. Sustainability means surviving ultimately, not in the long term, but I would say uh uh almost in the short term. And what he said is great because you cannot see sustainability as a different department, but you have to integrate it in the business DNA. And I also think that you mentioned something that is very important because you… A sustainability strategy has to start with good governance. Sometimes the G is something that is not looked at. But if you have a good governance and if you have this understanding from top down and if you have if you are still level, understands the importance of integrating sustainability in the company not transversal way as a part of the business strategy. That will change completely the rest right that will make all the social and environmental impacts the priority. And so basically as I understood, you started your sustainability journey 12 years ago when you started working for say, all right? |
| Gualter | You know, I am also I’m one of the members from the beginning of the foundation of CEiiA or the 20 years, but 12 years ago I was in CEiiA and I started in the communication area, in the marketing area, but I said that’s enough for me. I knew I would the new challenge and I start to look a perspective, what I would love to do. So I start to create some qualitative actions in the beginning, 12 years ago we start to create in Portugal some colleagues, collective action very focused in governance and how to fight corruption. So we create a collective action with the some of the biggest companies in Portugal like Ziemann Portugal, EDP… I was Portugal. They’re very focused to create a guide to analyze how much our company is exposed to corruption and at the same time it will give. It will give you a tool that you should design some tools to implement in your companies if you are a micro company, a smaller with their company or large company, to reduce the risk of corruption creating code of ethical conducts, a policy of of traveling, a policy of hospitality, that type of things. So when I start to look that perspective and when I start to study that case it was the moment there I met John Elkington the guy one of the founders of the trip bottom line and they started to analyze the other perspective of sustainability and I learned that and I also start to work a lot with the UN Global Compact, the headquarters from from New York directly with New York and start to work with them. how, Well… and media company like mine in Portugal, because it’s not a large company, it’s not the Pepsi, is not a Coca-Cola, also can be involved in this movement of sustainability in the beginners and we are in that moment, we are being in the millennial calls and we start to work with them and we start to give also the ideas from a perspective of a smell and Biden enterprise. Our needs, our perspective and it was interesting because we also help them to design some ideas when start to implement the SDGS and how the SDGS also could help not only us but the small and medium enterprise are the private sector to have a common narrative related to sustainability because for… because sustainability for one company was one thing but other company was at that thing. So what was and what these sustainability because I and then I want to buy one thing. I’m not against two companies to help either painting schools and that type of things. But I think sustainability should be directly involved in the strategy of the company. I cannot have a company if my strategy is not correct in sustainability and I have a foundation of my company who have initiatives to painting schools or to give money to do initiatives in Africa and other place just for me as a CEO to go to bed and sleep well. No I think the sustainability should be directing involved in the strategy, all my actions in my company, … are directly involved in sustainability. When I do everyday my actions, they are having impact or not in sustainability. The decision that I’m going to do as a CEO that I won’t have a positive impact or a negative impact in this perspective of these three dimension in the environment that dimension, in the economical dimension governments, or in the social dimension and for me that is the most important thing and it’s the thing that in our culture, in our company do that. And it was interesting because in the beginning it was a, like you said, Joana, a very top down perspective. But now we see that our collaborators, it’s a perspective now bottom up and this is where it is now. It’s our collaborators who after it will say to us now we need to be more sustainable, we need to do all this type of project even the technological project which I think we need to have a working package with our partners to do this and this and this and and that work package doesn’t have nothing to have with directly with the technology problem is working patient completely different and for example where the project with the company in Brazil and Uruguay which is the big them one of the second biggest dam in the world and the biggest in produce energy and we had a technology called project with them in electric mobility. But at the same time they are very good, they are very good in the issue related with gender equality. So that they teach us and they give us capacity to understand better that issue and we was very good in the issues related. For example, anticorruption initiatives and we help them and we share that type of information and in the technological project, we create work package different to share these type of initiatives and that’s important. So even in the technological project you can have what impacted or initiatives where the partners can share a good experience even in the other initial initiative they are doing in their companies or issues that they are not directly related with the technological project and that’s that’s very interesting to do. But only the companies will think that sustainability is strategic. |
| Joana | Totally agree. And I think that we haven’t yet explained our listeners what is the core business of CEiiA, because you’re a center of engineering, you do amazing projects that I would like you to explain and you are an international reference in the assisting of the sustainable mobility area. So can you tell us a little bit more of the scope of the work that you do at CEiiA? And explain further, uh, your sustainability initiatives and the three pillars that you have at the moment. |
| Gualter | OK. Yeah, we are engineering center, uh, we are based in Portugal. We work a lot in sustainable sustainability and mobility. And we develop not only device but also platform. We can measure in real time the CO2 that you are avoid if you are using sustainable models of device for you to go, for example from the point A to point B, if you use the electric vehicles, if you use scooters, if you use the electric motorcycles. That type of device we can measure in real time with you to that you were worried for using that device and not the common device and and for example you know now we create a project which is called air and it’s a reference for United Nations because this platform can measure that thing that I told you, the CO2 that you avoid. We created a token that level, right, the CO2 that you avoid. And with that token, you can make a transaction of that token, for example, in the municipality that you meet and you keep and you can use that to pay some service, the municipality who’s using that token, that is an example. I will, uh, see form than individual can contribute to the discrimination of the cities. This is an example of one of the examples, but we also work in the ocean. We develop our technology to analyze and to collect the data related to the oceans and with that data how much products or service we can develop or share with our partners to develop service or products to have a better sustainable solution. And we are also working in aeronautic area and space area. You also have two satellites with high resolution photography and we use that information also to analyze the climate change situations that happens in there, but we are very focused and our confidence is very on sustainability, mobility, how we can reward universe, it isn’t company, uh to have a better behaviors related to the climate and that is our main core business. It developed technology for that and that is what we are doing. Not only Portugal, we have projects Brazil or other countries in Europe and it was all of these work that there has been a reference for the United Nations in this area. We are also working and that is important, also very related with the fluidity market government, the carbon markets, very in the municipalities for example and we are working on that with the municipality of Matosinhos, Portugal to develop the first voluntary municipality carbon market. All the citizen can change and the municipality after that and to collect all the CO2 that the municipalities people live in Matosinhos have and how the municipality. Then make the offset of that part of that see you to in the market and we are working that also with the Portuguese Government to design that type of initiatives. |
| Joana | Ohh, that’s amazing. That’s basically all these initiatives involve technology, right? They involve technology and innovation. So for you, what’s your opinion about the role of technology as a leader to sustainability? |
| Gualter | I think technology is a tool for us to accelerate the sustainability. The technologies like blockchain, that signers, you know autonomous vehicles that type of technology and I think if you use correct that technology, we can accelerate very quickly all the process related with sustainability for example, the platform APLANET that you have, we can collect in real time data, OK, it will collect data, we analyze, we made comparation and we share that data. So all of that process that we collected analyze, but at the same time we can compare data, we have transparency to share the data. All that process accelerates the sustainability very fast. Listen, it’s a great example of your platform as an example to help us, our companies possibly could process of sustainability. For example, Alibaba has some shops in China that use autonomous technology in the restaurants. You can go to the supermarket of Alibaba and see that the apple came from with the certificate and the CO2 that to go to that place so much here to they thad to put their their policy in the market so and the consumer as the information to have the best decision. And that’s just amazing. I think technology is not the solution, but the technology is a tool that is the companies use, we can accelerate very fast the sustainability because we have two things that is important. One is the SDGs. The SDGs was important because it was a consensus between all the cultures retire, United Nation who created the narrative to sustainability, but at the same time the ESG also with the technology could help us also to response much quicker to the issues that are related to the ESG. And you need to understand and the companies need to understand the future years if you don’t have answers for the ESG, our foreigners will be more expensive or we are not going to have finance for our project and the technology could help us to accelerate this process to have the correct information, to analyze the information, to compare the information and to be more transparency to show the impact of our projects and as in technology is very important in this process to accelerate the sustainability dynamic. And it’s not because I’m speaking with APLANET, but your platform is a good example of collecting data, analyzing data and the automatic to share the data to compare and that’s the three main topics of technology: Receive information, analyze information and compare information and show the information for us as a as a citizen or for us as a company to compare and say I prefer to be a partner of the company A or the company B and that’s an example, good example where we can see that. |
| Joana | Thanks for mentioning APLANET, Gualter. Then, this is exactly our purpose. So our technology works as an enhancer, as an accelerator of the sustainability agenda. It’s not the solution per se, but it helps companies to become more efficient, just take time and resources and to generate the better impact because if you spend all your time just trying to collect data from different data sources. They’re trying to centralize it. It’s impossible not to have human error when you have a huge volume of ESG information to manage. So I’m a strong believer in the power of technology as a lever and you just mentioned also the new taxonomy and the pressures that the financial sector is having now on businesses in general because they need to invest and participate in companies that already integrate this ESG principles and for them also to manage all this information is crucial to have technology tools either APLANET or other types of tools to make their work more accurate and more efficient and I think that’s the saying being a you also have technology as your center, so you also have uh innovation at your center and you also have an ability at your center and I think that’s probably the solution why you leave for so many projects and you have so many projects going on in so many different areas and not only mobility. So at the beginning I saw in your CV that you are also a CEO of the Company for Life which is a spinoff in the health area. So how did this come up? |
| Gualter | And we are very focused on automotive or nothing in space, but with the COVID with the we have engineers, OK. So in that time if you have engineers all the world have problems to have ventilators, people breathe. So we say we there our engineers, we develop a letter respirator in the 45 days to help the world. Uh to have another solution for this uh problem. So we all of that stuff with the COVID pandemic situation. So we start to develop a device for the ventilation of the people who had COVID and all start on that how our engineers without this could have positive impact in developing some technology that for that moment, OK? And that was how emerged the four life company. It was not because it was a strategic, it was a situation that we had because the size, the more is the company portal employees more and not the P and aerospace engineers. And in that time he had a big break with the aeronautic companies because nobody was traveling so we need to allocate our engineers in other projects and then we had that idea to have to develop this kind of situation. So in the for life what we are doing is develop device, medical device, for rescue and emergency situation for example, If we’re Mozambique, there’s a climatic situation. We tried to develop some device that could help Mozambique or other countries to solve this situation so our philosophy, even when we are developing these device is always working in Co creation. We call doctors to work with us. We call even people from that the areas from Mozambique or Angola, Africa, Brazil, tropical areas to help us, but that are they needs what we need to develop for this type of situation. And at the same time, even the perspective when we are developing the product or the service, it too is to engage and to involve the local communities in this process because we want to share this technology with them, to capacitate them, even to produce that technology locally and to stop the problem. Sorry, that is the purpose of this company is a little bit how we can also to contribute in other areas that are expertise to put their communities more independent from other technologies, because we know in this situation not everybody is very sustainable in their behaviors. So we try to work on these issues because CEiiA and myself, we think that working in partnership with collective actions since the beginning is the best way to achieve our goals. In my life, I have a goal that I use as the African power. If you want to go fast, you will learn that. If you want to go further, go together. And this is the spirit that we have. Yeah, and I have myself and this is this project. I also that my key is also to have with the work in partnership, we work with other people to solve the problem because you alone cannot solve anything and you, you are just an individualist guy and you need to work with the other, and that is also a value of sustainability is to work with the others and teach and learn with the others for you to be much better. And one thing that I think is very important and what you are doing, I think it’s amazing, is even examples like we are doing in this moment to share experience. Our tool would love to learn with other experience. And then when I heard other experiences, ohh, I’m not going to make that mistake where I’m going to do something similar like I saw in the other conversation. And I think these two that you are doing is very interesting because this is also to create the literacy to sustainability and I think it’s amazing. Another example of technology, also can help sustainability is to create these type of initiatives you are inspiring. I’m in Portugal, we are talking and we’re not, we don’t need to be in the same room or with a lot of people in the room. Now they have these technology to spread the words and I think this is amazing. It’s another example of how technology can help. Also, sustainability is like examples like this one that APLANET is doing these ATALKS thinking it’s amazing example of a good work to promote literacy to the sustainability. It’s amazing. |
| Joana | Thank you, Gualter. That is our main person travel and we believe that’s this space of sharing experience is a win-win situation because in the end what we want is to save the same, solve the same challenges worldwide and for that we need collaboration and talking about collaboration. So I think you mentioned very important things on one side talking about your new project for life. So you saw that there was an emergency. It was a global emergency. They had lack of resources and you had the resources, you have the expertise. So you quickly shipped the core of your business to help solve a necessity. And I think this is the greatest example what a sustainable business is, because businesses cannot solve all the problems in all the 17 SDGS. But if you use public sources that you know your value proposition and you use these resources to solve a specific problem, you are generating a greater impact in not only in your organization but in society and that is for me what is the true purpose of sustainability and you mentioned collaboration I know you have a lot of partnerships and besides that you are the ambassador of the 11th principle of the one SG regarding cities and communities. But I wanted to ask you, I mean about this role and this nomination of being the ambassador of the 11th principle, and what also is the role of the 17th principle regarding partnerships, because it’s as what I see for your work, the 17th principal serves the rest of your work right because for you to reach your goal you also did it go creation and find partnerships all over the world, right? |
| Gualter | Yeah, I think it that’s important there. Uh, I became an ambassador of the 11 principle because they’re in CEiiA. We work a lot on sustainable mobility and a lot of cities, so it’s because of that I was very related with the SDG-11 there, but when we make the partnership and for us it’s very important the SDG’s to create a common narrative even with our partners. It’s like a lighthouse will help us to follow the narrative and help us just like to see in the first line who can be involved in one project with us or not, we were using the SDGS greenwash or really leaves the SDG. Do the talk of the SDGs. And that is the very important and to decide time… Even if they don’t have the culture of the SDG, we you try to use even our project to engage them to the SDGS. To the SDGS atmosphere, for example. Years ago I say work a lot with the UN Global Compact in New York with a platform which was the Breakthrough Innovation platform, very focused for startups, even to help the startups since the beginning the culture of the sustainability or the taxonomy and to help even the startups to look the sustainability as an opportunity. Not only for them on business but also when they are growing to grow with the answers of the principles of the SDG and to in the end it was a very interesting process because a lot of the some of the Portuguese stuffed apps that we have been working on that project now, they are a great example of sustainability and they asked SDG goals and now we are working a lot also in the ESG after the SDG. We are also trying to work with our partner with our supply chain tool to talk with… Important of the ESG because even in our daily routine our permission should understand this taxonomy should understand that this important ESG and they are being preparing to azure capabilities of ESG and to see the opportunities that even ESG can give to them and sustainability as an opportunity of business, or marketing, but also to be a more efficient company. And the tools are there. The rules are there, the ideas are, they said one thing it was very interesting when you say that, but if you have a persons who are looping information from here, here, here there is a lot of information they are not doing. It’s because of that platforms that can collect data in real time from different sources related to the SDGS and put in a platform where like up and we can go and see. Even with the in the market to see where are my computers as an average, it’s very important and I think platforms who do this like a plan this week can help also the companies to be more competitive in the market and be more sustainable and that is important now. Also engaged their partners and their supply chain to all of these dynamic and if they are not in this dynamic, they are not the good partners or the good companies to make projects. We are using that they are going to die in the years. |
| Joana | Totally agree. |
| Gualter | And they can have a lot of money today, but they are going to die because with the new generation, the new consumers, they don’t want that they want. They want have responsible companies. They want companies respect the climate. They want companies respect when they had lined the project and respect the communities where they are doing the projects is not giving money to communities to buy computers or doing that though it’s still involve the communities in the project and explain the project and engage them to the project is that type of thing is not the other offset things that some companies do. |
| Joana | Exactly is what basically what you did at say a right integrate sustainability in the business strategy and will treat it as something ancillary because I do feel that there’s still even lack of information from these SME’s and I know that it’s difficult to manage a company especially in times of crisis now with the Ukraine war and the inflation etcetera, but if you manage a company nowadays, you have to be aware of of the big threats that we are facing, especially environmental, environmental and from the environmental many social challenges will come. And it’s obvious today that if companies don’t change their business model into a sustainable business model, they won’t survive. And and so the fact that the supply chain, creates this awareness is fundamental, but I still see for instance, we were talking about the SDG. I see the SDGs as a framework that is very commonly used by the big companies. I still see by the SME’s of not. I don’t know and sits a lack of know how of of what SDG’s are, but I still think that they have a long way to run regarding this. For instance, in Portugal being a country of SDG’s, do you think that companies are or this small medium companies are already embracing the SDG’s? Or they are still a bit lost in this type of framework? |
| Gualter | We are better than yesterday but worse than tomorrow. That’s what we are doing, that’s it. We are doing our way. But what we are seeing here in Portugal are, and sometimes, a lot of times, we are involved. Who would try to be involved in collective action with the big companies also to push small and medium companies, for example, we are small and media company and a lot of time in test would push the big companies to these issues. But the small and medium companies should be involved. For example, in the blue economy, in the first semester of this year, we engage a big bank in Portugal. Yeah, and he’s a Spanish bank, which is BBVA. In Portugal we have, we create workshops focus on sustainability in blue economy, and we invite these workshop with them, not only in this but in Oporto, Algarve in Navarro, also for all the territory of Portugal. And we make this workshop to explain the importance of sustainability in the blue economy, the importance of finance project, the ESG principles, and we had a lot of small and medium companies and you are correct, some of that companies don’t have the information and sometimes the management who is in that company see the sustainability, something like marketing Oh that in this time of crisis we don’t need to be on that because this is marketing, no. But when they start to understand what is sustainability and the opportunities of sustainability they are, they quickly change and make their… They shift and they start to be involved and they want to be involved on that. Sometimes it’s because they don’t know they don’t have capacity and it´s not easy because if it was easy, everybody to worldly was really much better than these today, everybody was very engaged on sustainability. |
| Joana | And it has to be a systemic change. |
| Gualter | Yes. But this is something that we need all we need to do together. As even in the meetings, we need to to speak about the SDG. We in the beginning we’re in Portugal when I start to use the logo of the SDG. Everybody looked to me what is this, this guy, this because even that small symbols that didn’t understand what they they they call me other things, but not related to the SDGS. And now everybody equals to a conference of the SDG, everybody would love to have the pin of the SDG’s, but in the beginning every everything even related was something you, so we need to be positive, we need to engage. Sometimes we think that’s OK, it’s not so easy. But we need to fight and try to engage to this initiative. Even with our kids in the schools, with the companies who need to do that and leave positive that we are, we need to do that. And now it’s time for action and we if we can change one company. That’s one company that will change and then the company is going to change for sure another company because the the guy from the board is speaking to the other guy of the board, the positive things to bring to be engaged in sustainability. And all of that is like a snowball, you just need to, to start to run. For example, you have been working in sustainability and you see a completely changed from years ago from now and you say, OK, but we have a lot of work to do, correct, but if you saw five years ago… We are completely different, but we need to be positive and that is the important thing. Be positive in sustainability and not only in the environment issues. Environmental issues are important, but the social issues and the governments are also very important. We need to have positive impact in the project that we do, in the communities that we are doing. We need to be transparent, to show the results of our projects and to present our project. I think is the technology on that can help us a lot to be more transparency to compare the results and to have a positive impact in solutions and in the communities, that is very important. |
| Joana | Totally agree. |
| Gualter | But I have a very interesting project that we made, we made in Brazil. For example, we developed bicycles for sharing, but that bicycle was made with say that in the slam of marriage, which is the biggest community of lamps in Rio de Janeiro during a year, we create the fabela in this lab and work with that community to design with us what is the bicycle for sharing. But in the beginning, even that people of that community doesn’t understand what was. What means mobility? We think so. We need to speak with them since the beginning even what is mobility, what do this mobility and we work together and in the end, yes, the output was the bicycle, but we have other outputs in the beginning the municipality of Rio de Janeiro l wasn’t involved in the project and something just to illustrate, some people to get the bus need to make more than one mile to get the bus because they have barriers for the the people who come from outside Brazil don’t see those slams. So they have barriers and to get the bus they need to do more than one mile or two miles to get a bus. With this project the municipality start to break the barriers from 500 million meters, 500 meters. So people in the beginning need to do one or two miles to get the bus with the end of this project some of that people after 200 meters could get the bus don’t need to do 2 miles and this is type of project that have a positive impact in it even in the communities. Yes, we develop technology but also have a positive impact in the communities. And these are examples of projects that we need to develop to involve the communities, to involve the different stakeholders and don’t think that we are the owners of the truth and because we think have the owner said no, just bring everybody to the table. Yeah, it’s more difficult, it’s more difficult to have constants, but in the end the result will be much better. Maybe it’s not the greatest result, but this for sure or great. My goals in the end. Yeah. Yeah and the main idea is the companies need to understand that sustainability should be in the strategy sustainability and you don’t think they’re going to die as a company the sustainability should be in our strategy. Yeah. And thinking in the future of our consumers is because of that now I think the most important SDG for me now and I’m looking very tension is the SDG 12, the responsible consume. Because Joana, Walter, my kids, they are going to be the priority responsible consumers in the future and now, but in the future and for that they need information to have a better behavior than where technology also can help to give us information in power and forest, never power to give us power as the consumers to decide if I’m going for the left side or the right side. And picked a decision that’s important. |
| Joana | That is crucial why you just mentioned, because if you if we wanted to make a change and we need to make an urgent change, everyone has to be involved. There has to be a systemic change involving not only governments and regulators, but also the financial sector, large companies, SME’s and everyone at the individual level because as you just mentioned, we have a lot of power as consumers. So if we are willing to want about about the products that we’re going to purchase. This power of the collective can change businesses because companies if they can sell their businesses, they’re… they have to shut their business. So they have to respond to the clients needs and the clients worries and sustainability for sure if people at an individual level are informed will be in their top priorities. And Gualter they’re just wanting to shift a bit the topic because I know that you are also an ambassador in promoting ocean sustainability. And I know that namely worked with the government of Portugal to organize the UN Ocean Conference in 2022 and that you are also responsible for involving the Portuguese private sector in promoting ocean sustainability. So can you please share with us your thoughts on the importance of ocean sustainability and what was the UN Ocean Conference 2022 about? |
| Gualter | Yeah! We live in that blue planet. Will depart from our planet leaves occupied by water, by ocean. So we need to care very well about our ocean, because the ocean is important even to capture carbon, where we have the protein, for example, two weeks ago we thought we knew that we are almost, we are 8 billion people and in the world. We need to have food for these people amd the proteins are not only lead and the land, cannot solve the problem to be food to these people, to use the ocean, but use the ocean sustainable. In the sustainable way and even the easterly World being different type of products who came from China, Asia or Africa or to Europe or from Europe to that is boats for the travel. So even the ocean is also a very important place for logistics and maritime transport. Is the maritime transport one of the transports will have more carbon footprints, so you also do need to develop loads to reduce the footprint of them. So we have been working a lot of debt with the almost biggest, with the biggest companies in the world and we are working with five different problem topic is very focused on ports and the their emission transport, maritime transport, how did the ports can be more sustainable. For example, we need to have more digitalization of the ports technology like we have to have ports to be prepared for electric boots or green hydrogen for the transport. We are working a lot in the other perspective which is the seafood for example… Russian who will need to give us protein. But maybe it’s not only with fish, for example, we need maybe in our food we need to start to eat more seaweed. This year not only used for medicine purpose, but also used for as a food, as a protein also we are also in the in the military renewable energy offshore, the energy waves wind in the oceans. We are also work a lot in also in mapping the ocean, because we need to understand very well, what we have in the ocean, we know more today. We know more related with the Mars than we know about the ocean. Just for you to just think about that you know more about other planets than we know about the ocean. So we need to understand better what we have in the ocean. We end with this. I’m not saying that we do, we need to do mineralization in the ocean. I’m not doing there, I’m not… I’m telling that we need to understand what we have in the issue much better because in some areas maybe we can find something that can be very, very interesting even for medicine purpose and for all our lunch in our days. And we are also working in the ways of the ocean now to work on that. And also related with that, we work a lot in the literacy of the ocean with the new generations, how to engage the new generation to help us to think in these problems, in this challenge and to develop products or service that we can develop for the future in this 5 topics. And in these five topics, we are working with the biggest companies in the world and the biggest, finest files in the world, at the biggest banks in the world to combine one thing that I called the 4th is called trees involved government, companies and how we evolved these four seats in all these amalgamate and altogether designed products and service to be more to have a more sustainable planet focusing on the ocean. |
| Joana | That is amazing what you just said and it’s impressive the lack of information that we have about the ocean and we cannot live without the ocean. So I think that there is a lot of space for partnerships and Co creation and also for technology and innovation to be a lever to help from the mapping of the ocean until how to better use it and take advantage in a sustainable way, right? |
| Gualter | Just to have an example. That our listing. Portugal, this reticle in the Iberian Peninsula. Small one. Yeah, this rectangle is only 3% of the Portuguese schedule, 97% is ocean. So, and in Portugal doesn’t have a lot of information about his country. He won’t have information about 3% or more, 2% about the ocean. So when 97% of our country in Portugal is ocean, because we are the fifth biggest country in the world with the largest, largest area of the ocean in the planet: Portugal. And we don’t know what we have in our landing, in the ocean and it’s unbelievable. I would don’t have information. But it’s not only Portugal, the other country we have a lot of the ocean doesn’t have information also because we never look to the ocean also as an opportunity for sustainability to look better. You prefer to go or the country prefer to go to the moon, to go to Mars and understand better the ocean. |
| Joana | That’s incredible. It’s incredible and it’s definitely food for thoughts, I think and go out there, we’re running out of time. So I want to make you a last question that we always asked you our guest. Who would you like to see interviewed here at ATALKS? |
| Gualter | Uh. And if I can, I can answer with two dibs. |
| Joana | OK. |
| Gualter | Would love to see here in ATLAKS from APLANET, Diane Date, which is an expert in sustainability and it was a person… She’s the president of Seizure Foundation. She’s very engaged in issues related with the power empowerment of women in technology and sustainability, also of the climate, oceans. She had work in the United Nations the OCT and she creates a lot of project and she’s amazing person. We have a global perspective on sustainability. But he also is a person who also helps companies to be more engaged in startups, will be more engaged in sustainability. One is Diane Bloom. The other person is a very interesting person, is very focused in the ocean is Patricia Furtado which was an actress some years ago in the TV global novels, a very famous one, but she left the actress and we are very active in the ocean perspective, very focused on literacy of the ocean to work with the new generations, how we build the new generations for the issues of sustainability and how the new generation also can be a very important to engage the companies also as a pressure to change their business models and there and she’s doing a very interesting work in Brazil on that and and she’s working a lot with ONUs on that project. One person that came to my mind and it was to women because I think also to promote gender equality and I think here even the weavers are much more stronger and engage in this issue for women. And it’s another good example that Members can help teach us around these historic years around the world that you are very much stronger than as the guys and you are more visionary, visionary and and if you are an intelligent we need, we just need to follow your advice and follow the leaders. And women should be something else, not the males. |
| Joana | I think all the women love to hear that, but last… |
| Gualter | But it’s the truth. And then and I don’t know if I’m before I say goodbye, I just want to tell you again that the work that APLANET is doing, not only the technological thing, I think is amazing work that you are doing but even these talks that you do. I think are much more important than… You are doing because they can have a really impact in the people that they are listening to us that we listen because we can share these information. We learn and we teach and we learn, we share and that’s amazing all the work that you are doing and congratulations for all the team of APLANET of this work that you are doing and please don’t give up the project that you are doing because this is amazing. |
| Joana | Thank you so much, Gualter. And I’m sure that many people got inspired by all your ideas and thoughts and that’s also one of our main purposes because we need to engage everyone. So having people such as yourself with such an inspiring sustainability journey is really of value for us here and that you shared your experience. So thank you so much for being here with us today, for your input and for everyone who’s listening, I hope you have enjoyed and see you in the next ATALK. Bye bye. |
| Gualter | Bye bye. |
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