Joint Brazilian-European facility for climate and geodynamic research on the Amazon River Basin sediments

Main goal

Maximize the initial investment of France in the current joint laboratory LMI-OCE (Laboratoire Mixte International-Observatoire des Changements Environnementaux) set up in Brazil, to benefit the whole EU (European Union), and extend the international visibility and scientific excellence of this joint Brazilian-French laboratory activities.

Expected impacts

CLIM-AMAZON major contribution consists in a mutual transfer of knowledge between European and Brazilian scientists, that will lead to a better understanding of the global transport and sedimentation processes involved the Amazon basin, which plays a key role in global climate regulation. Among other benefits, this co-operation will facilitate the access to the world’s largest tropical river basin to European researchers. In exchange, UnB-Universidade de Brasília profile will be enhanced on the international scientific scene, given that this institution is already one of the most highly ranked geoscience research institution in Brazil. Integrating European PhD students and Post Doc researchers in Brazil, under joint guidance between Brazilian and European senior scientists, will give a new generation of researchers talking the same language and addressing environment questions through a common approach. In this context, CLIM-AMAZON will also have a strong impact in terms of the establishment of a EU-Brazil laboratory in Brasilia.

Beyond this 4-year project, our expectation is that the present collaboration contributes to the establishment of a comprehensive and coherent Brazil-EU dialogue to implement future joint activities of common interest based on complementarity and synergy. Considering the large Brazilian investments in scientific infrastructure in the last few years -as those in the Geochronos Lab at IG/UnB (Geosciences Institute of UnB)- which enabled a considerable growth of Brazilian scientific production in terms of quantity and quality, CLIM-AMAZON objectives present a great strategic interest for EU scientific international co-operation. Furthermore, this project will also reinforce the long-term successful co-operation between South American and European countries, for example as developed under the ORE-HYBAM observatory (Observatoire de Recherche en Environnement sur l'Hydrologie du Bassin Amazonien) and the current projects of LMI-OCE on the influence of environmental factors.

Preventive approach of climate change and processes of flooding, erosion, anthropogenic impact and their influence along the Amazon River basin will be made available to policy-makers, communities representatives, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the public at large, thereby helping arising public awareness about the environmental questions at stake. We hope that our results will provide useful tools to set up policies compatible with sustainable development, producing an impact in the socio-economic activity of the region and in the people’s behaviors.