Check out the interview with the Center’s Executive Coordinator, Admiral Moura Neto
By CT (T) Bruno Oliveira, 1T (T) Mirella Arruda and 1T (RM2-T) Felipe Lemos – Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Have you ever thought about how important the sea is for Brazil? Almost all imports and exports, which are vital to the country’s economy, are made by sea, 90% of oil and 80% of natural gas are taken from the sea, and we have 17 states on the coast that account for 90% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Despite this, the Brazilian sea, also known as the Blue Amazon, is still unknown to ordinary citizens and the ocean’s potential is still little explored. But how can this situation be changed? Which Brazilian institutions are concerned with strengthening the maritime mentality and ocean culture?
Created 14 years ago, the Centre of Excellence for the Brazilian Sea (Cembra) is the organization that brings together the institutions that represent the ocean ecosystem. Its main objective is to help awaken society’s interest in the importance of the sea and to generate a conviction in society that will result in concrete actions aimed at making sustainable use of the potential of the Brazilian sea.
In this interview, Cembra’s Executive Coordinator, Admiral Julio Soares de Moura Neto, former Commander of the Brazilian Navy, explains the organization’s main initiatives for this year, such as the launch of the organization’s revamped website, the first website in the country dedicated exclusively to content and information about the Brazilian sea, in a virtual ceremony that will be shown live on Cembra’s YouTube channel on September 19 at 10am.
Admiral, how important is Cembra for the country?
The Centre of Excellence for the Brazilian Sea is a non-profit organization whose mission is to stimulate, propose, coordinate and conduct structuring projects and actions related to the study and use of the Brazilian sea, also known nationally as the Blue Amazon.
Cembra is governed by the Vanguard Organizations methodology, developed by Petrobras/Coppe [Centers of Excellence] and disseminated by the Centers and Networks of Excellence Space [Ecentex/UFRJ]. Cembra is made up of several institutions, its founding partners being the Brazilian Navy, Coppe/UFRJ, FURG [Federal University of Rio Grande]; its strategic partners being Femar [Foundation for Studies of the Sea], UFF [Fluminense Federal University] and the Navy’s General Directorate for Nuclear and Technological Development; as well as various specialists and consultants.
Cembra’s most important achievement is the book “O Brasil e o Mar no Século XXI” [Brazil and the Sea in the 21st Century], BMS21, now in its third edition, which is a comprehensive work in nine parts, containing 20 thematic chapters dedicated to the ocean and a conclusion, in a total of 771 pages.
On the Cembra website, among other information, you can access the virtual edition of the book, whose chapters are updated every three years. It also provides access to the “Informativo Cembra”, a periodical digital publication that disseminates issues about the Brazilian sea. The next InfoCembra, No. 14, will be sent out from October 1 to around 3,500 recipients, and will be about BMS21 itself.
What contribution does the book “Brazil and the Sea in the 21st Century” make to the sustainable development of this environment?
The book brings together extremely relevant data and information on Brazilian activities at sea. It is certainly a reference document, capable of arousing the interest of Brazilian society in the value and potential of the Brazilian sea.
Among the main subjects discussed in the book, which are included in the nine parts I have already mentioned, are: Law and Safety at Sea; The Sea, a Source of Energy and Mineral Resources; The Sea, a Source of Food; The Sea, a Means of Transportation; The Sea, Ecology and Tourism; The Sea, Sustainable Development; The Sea, Science, Technology and Innovation; and The Sea, a National Perspective.
All these themes have been carefully dealt with, thanks to the work of 27 consultants who revised the book’s chapters and 28 speakers who took part in the ten webinars organized by Cembra to collect data and information for the 3rd Edition of BMS21.
A very important aspect is that, at the end of each chapter, the book presents Brazil’s decision-makers with important suggestions and indications from the scientific community, aimed at making better use of the potential of the Brazilian sea.
The book is also an invaluable resource for all those who study the sea: professors, researchers, students, technicians and even those who, out of simple curiosity, are interested in the subjects covered.
After Cembra’s last event, the webinar on submersibles, what are the organization’s next initiatives?
In the coming months, Cembra will organize the following activities:
- Short virtual lectures, to be given by renowned specialists, on topics related to the Brazilian sea;
- Cembra’s 1st Essay Contest, with the theme The Decade of the Ocean – what’s your vision of “the ocean we want?”, aimed at students in primary [6th to 9th grade], secondary and higher education, with the aim of developing a maritime mentality among this important section of Brazilian society.
- Webinar “Science, Technology and Innovation at Sea, with an emphasis on sustainable development”;
- There will also be the launch of Cembra’s revamped website (www.cembra.org.br), with permanently updated information and more user-friendly navigation;
- As well as a new edition of the Cembra Newsletter, InfoCembra 14; and the continuation of the local launch, in universities, of the 3rd Edition of the Book “Brazil and the Sea in the 21st Century: subsidies for the sustainable use of the Brazilian Sea”.
Why is Brazil’s economic development linked to the sea? Can Brazil be said to be unviable without the sea?
I think so. Admiral Paulo Moreira da Silva used to say that “Brazil is not viable without the sea”. Our history has always been linked to the sea. We were discovered by sea; we were invaded by sea, by countries that coveted our resources; and our Independence was consolidated by sea. By sea, Brazil took part in the campaigns of the Regency period [Cabanada, Balaiada etc], the War of the Triple Alliance [2nd Reign], and World War I and II.
Brazil has geographical, environmental and economic characteristics that make its maritime vocation unquestionable. We have a coastline of 8,500 km, an Exclusive Economic Zone of 3.6 million km² which, added to the 2.1 million km2 of the Continental Shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, including the Rio Grande Rise, totals a maritime area of 5.7 million km². This area has great potential for wealth in terms of marine biotechnology and living and non-living resources, as well as having an important influence on our climate.
In addition, 80% of the Brazilian population lives less than 200 km from the coast, where 90% of industrial capacity and 85% of electricity consumption is concentrated. On the coast, Brazil has 17 states and their 16 capitals, which account for 90% of the national GDP.
Almost all imports and exports, which are vital to our economy, are made by sea – around 95% of foreign trade takes place by sea. Energy and food are extracted from the sea: 90% of oil and 80% of natural gas are produced offshore and our fish production is around one million tons a year, close to the sustainable catch limit.
Despite all this, Brazilians still don’t have a consistent maritime mentality. Although they generally recognize the importance of the ocean, they focus their interest on the coast. In fact, the average citizen does not understand the real dimension of the economic, scientific, environmental and sovereignty aspects of our sea.
Cembra’s aim is to help awaken society’s interest in the importance of the Brazilian sea and, more than that, to help generate a conviction in society that will result in concrete actions aimed at harnessing the potential of this “Sea that belongs to us”, which is the Brazilian sea.