For young scientists, an integrated approach is essential to mitigate the effects of climate change

Meeting at the State University of Campinas with a new generation of researchers points to collaboration between sectors to mitigate the consequences of global warming with climate justice.

By André Julião  |  Agência FAPESP – Young scientists dedicated to studying climate change are aware that their work must be done in a network that integrates different types of knowledge and sectors of society, far beyond the walls of research institutions. This was evident among the participants of the meeting “Voices of the Future: Perspectives of Young FAPESP Scientists for COP30”. 

The event, held on September 10 at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), was promoted under the FAPESP Research Program on Global Climate Change (RPGCC). The lectures and debates were broadcast online, with sessions in the morning and afternoon. 

“The event was entirely suggested and planned by young scientists, due to the fact that FAPESP has the Young Investigator Grant Program, but it goes beyond them. Master’s and doctoral students actively participated in the organization,” said Luiz Aragão, a member of the RPGCC coordination team, at the opening.

“Climate change has been debated by the people who caused it and won’t live through these changes. And the solutions are anchored in the people who will make decisions in the future. With COP30 on our doorstep, we took the opportunity to bring this knowledge fostered by FAPESP to the table for debate in order to generate information that could be used in the future,” said Aragão, who is a researcher at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

“We’re from a generation that didn’t understand that we had to take care of the planet. Seeing this change in behavior in today’s youth makes us very happy,” said Ana Maria Frattini Fileti, vice-dean of research at UNICAMP.

According to the speakers, the multidisciplinary nature of the presentations set the tone for how the climate crisis should be addressed since the different problems caused by global warming require complex solutions. More than research, dialogue with different sectors of society – the third sector, the business sector, and governments – will be necessary.

“The pre-COP window is important for choosing critical topics and communicating them before the debate within the conference. The goal here is to give a voice to all young researchers, especially on topics such as global warming above 1.5 °C, reducing carbon emissions, nature-based solutions, the energy transition, resilient cities, biodiversity, climate justice, and implementing science,” said Jeniffer Natalia Teles, one of the event organizers. Teles is pursuing postdoctoral studies at the Ribeirão Preto Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences, and Letters of the University of São Paulo (FFCLRP-USP) with a scholarship from FAPESP. 

Raquel Tupinambá, an indigenous leader and doctoral student in anthropology at the University of Brasília (UnB), provided an overview of the history of Amazonian occupation, from the original peoples to the development model based on deforestation and resulting greenhouse gas emissions. She emphasized the need for climate justice.

“Groups that emit the least greenhouse gases are the most affected by emissions. Repairing historical inequalities is an ethical and political issue, and we must hold the largest emitters accountable, while guaranteeing rights and reparations for those most affected,” she said.

Multidisciplinary

The young researchers supported by FAPESP who presented at the event study topics as diverse as the predictability of climate change, prospects for biodiversity and ecosystems in the face of global change, inequalities in access to the benefits of urban nature, and coral reefs in a changing ocean.

Monique Ribeiro Polera Sampaio is pursuing a doctorate at INPE with a FAPESP scholarship to study communicating environmental disaster risks. As part of her research, she distributed a survey at the end of 2024, and 5,344 people from across Brazil responded. According to the doctoral student, there was a considerable increase in the number of respondents. The results were published in February 2025 by Agência FAPESP. 

“To understand the risk communication strategies that are actually working and the gaps observed in the perception of the Brazilian population, we need to understand how the population is evaluating the current risk communication strategies,” she said.

The researchers were surprised by how frequently people had experienced environmental disasters, with 67.3% saying they had experienced at least one of the listed disasters, such as flooding, landslides, heat waves, droughts, and fires. Between 2023 and 2024 alone, over 50% of respondents experienced a disaster. Flooding was the most recurring event throughout their lives, while heat waves were the most commonly experienced event in the last year.

The need to apply research to public policy was emphasized more than once during the event. “It’s time for researchers to step out of their laboratories and be an active part of the real world. Dealing with NGOs and public authorities takes time and energy, and it’s additional bureaucracy. But it’s worth it when research results are used to conserve species and areas that seem unique, for example,” said Thais Guedes, a professor at the Institute of Biosciences at São Paulo State University (IB-UNESP) in Rio Claro and a researcher at the Center for Research on Biodiversity Dynamics and Climate Change (CBioClima), a Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Center (RIDC) supported by FAPESP.

Proposals focusing on public policy include financial incentives for ecosystem services, presented by Patricia Guidão Cruz Ruggiero, and proposals for the bioeconomic exploitation of forest restoration products, presented by Pedro Krainovic. Both are researchers at BIOTA Synthesis, a Science Center for Development (SCD) supported by FAPESP. 

To watch the entire event, visit youtube.com/watch?v=g5QmQuVAddY (morning) and youtube.com/watch?v=h44F3xzggdw (afternoon).