Marcelo has over 30 years of experience working in the sustainability field, committed to advancing environmental and social justice through advocacy and philanthropy. Most recently, he became a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University – ILAS (Fall 2021).
A founding partner at the start-up ZCO2/BlockC, a traceability platform for environmental assets using blockchain technology. He was the CEO of Alana Foundation and Arapyaú Institute, family foundations that promote sustainability, social justice and education. Marcelo is a co-founder and was the facilitator of the Brazilian Coalition on Climate Forest and Agriculture, a multi-stakeholder forum with representatives from academia, business and civil society to implement a just and sustainable low carbon economy focused on land use issues. He is also a co-founder of the Climate & Sovereignty Centre, a think tank on Defense and Climate issues.
Marcelo also spent twenty-four years at Greenpeace where he served as Executive Director of Greenpeace Brazil, and was previously Head of the Forest, Climate & Energy, and Toxics and Oceans campaigns in Brazil. At Greenpeace International, he coordinated the global Toxic Trade Campaign on the promotion of clean technology and the worldwide ban on hazardous waste trade and industrial pollution and later worked as a policy adviser on Climate & Energy.
Marcelo is a chemical engineer by training with a master’s degree in renewable energy. He is a Yale World Fellow and currently serves as the Board Chair at World Resources Institute (WRI) Brazil. He is also a Board member of Conectas Human Rights. He is also a member of the sustainability committees of Dexco SA and Marfrig SA.