An interview with our new team member, Mariana Goulart

For this #SustainableBlog post, we would like you to meet Mariana Goulart, one of the latest team members to join #SustainablePublicAffairs.Mariana is originally from Brazil and has an Italian father, so she speaks Portuguese, Italian Spanish, English, and is currently learning French. After studying law and passing the bar, she went to work for the Superior Court of Justice in Curitiba, Brazil. There, she gained a solid understanding of the law and a strong sense of justice from practicing it on the ground.Going back to her Italian roots, she then did a master’s degree in International Law in Padova. While studying, she became more interested in EU environmental topics. For instance, in her master’s thesis, she did a case study on the Amazon rainforest – comparing the current state of play in Brazil and how it could be impacted by the EU’s Green Deal.The global impact of Environmental PolicyMariana says that, through her studies, she had a realisation that EU policies have a wide global impact. “These policies are not only important for Europe – they also influence the legislation in many other countries, like Brazil”.This inspired her to continue her work in the environmental field, so she took on a traineeship at the EU chemicals agency (ECHA) in Finland and then moved to Brussels to work for consulting firm Enhesa, working on similar topics.  Now, Mariana is excited to join #SustainablePublicAffairs as she enjoys environmental work and says that “it’s great to be working for a ‘frontrunning’ consulting firm in sustainability”.What will you do at #SustainablePublicAffairs?At #SustainablePA, Mariana will be mainly working on chemicals and sustainable finance topics, as well as some other more hardcore legal issues. She thinks her law background will be of great use for this.“Other than that, I am looking forward to learning about a broad range of topics and testing out different things”, she says. She is also very keen to build her network by “meeting with NGOs EU officials and other important stakeholders in Brussels”.  Looking to the future, Mariana says: “I hope to grow with #SustainablePA and that more companies want to move towards sustainability. It is amazing to see so many joining this movement and becoming conscious of the environment”. Mariana adds that the policy implications are also important; “the EU itself is also changing fast!”How could you have an impact on sustainability? “I think chemicals are very important because they impact our daily lives – “it’s not something we can overlook”, Mariana insists, adding that “chemicals are in what we eat, use in our houses and even put on our faces”.A big part of pollution also comes from the chemical industry and affects many people. For this reason, she mentions that the topic “speaks to me from both of my passions: human rights and environmental rights”. However, there is still a lot to do to make this field safer and more sustainable. “There need to be big changes in this industry”.

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