Gabriela Sá Pessoa is a journalist captivated with the intersection of human rights and local weather change. She got here to MIT from The Washington Post, the place she labored from her residence nation of Brazil as a information researcher reporting on the Amazon, human rights violations, and environmental crimes. Before that, she held roles at two of the most influential media shops in Brazil: Folha de S.Paulo, protecting native and nationwide politics, and UOL, the place she was assigned to coronavirus protection and later joined the investigative desk.
Sá Pessoa was awarded the 2023 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship by the International Women’s Media Foundation, which helps its recipient with analysis alternatives at MIT and additional coaching at The Boston Globe and The New York Times. She is at present based mostly at the MIT Center for International Studies. Recently, she sat down to speak about her work on the Amazon, current adjustments in Brazilian politics, and her expertise at MIT.
Q: One focus of your reporting is human rights and environmental points in the Amazon. As a part of your fellowship, you contributed to a current editorial in The Boston Globe on preventing deforestation in the area. Why is reporting on this matter essential?
A: For many Brazilians, the Amazon is a distant and distant territory, and folks dwelling in different elements of the nation aren’t totally conscious of all of its issues and all of its potential. This is just like the United States — like many individuals right here, they do not see how they may very well be associated to the human rights violations and the destruction of the rainforest which are occurring.
But, we’re all complicit in the destruction in some methods as a result of the financial forces driving the deforestation of the rainforest all have a market, and these markets are all over the place, in Brazil and right here in the U.S. I feel it’s a part of journalism to point out folks in the U.S., Brazil, and elsewhere that we’re a part of the drawback, and as a part of the drawback, we needs to be a part of the resolution by being conscious of it, caring about it, and taking actions which are inside our energy.
In the U.S., for instance, voters can affect coverage like the present negotiations for monetary assist for preventing deforestation in the Amazon. And as customers, we will be extra conscious — is the beef we’re consuming associated to deforestation? Is the timber on our building websites coming from the Amazon?
Truth is, in Brazil, we’ve turned our backs to the Amazon for therefore lengthy. It’s our responsibility to guard it for the sake of local weather change. If we do not handle it, there can be severe penalties to our native local weather, our native communities, and for the complete world. It’s an enormous matter of human rights as a result of our dwelling relies upon on that, each domestically and globally.
Q: Before coming to MIT, you have been at The Washington Post in São Paulo, the place you contributed to reporting on the current presidential election. What adjustments do you anticipate to see with the new Lula administration?
A: To local weather and surroundings, the first indicators have been optimistic. But the optimism didn’t final a semester, as politics is imposing itself. Lula is going through growing issue constructing a majority in a conservative Congress, over which agribusiness holds great energy and affect. As we communicate, environmental coverage is underneath Congress’s assault. A committee in the House has simply handed a ruling drowning energy from the environmental minister, Marina Silva, and from the not too long ago created National Indigenous People Ministry, led by Sonia Guajajara. Both Marina and Sonia are international ecological and human rights champions, and I ponder what the affect can be if Congress ratifies these adjustments. It continues to be unclear how it could affect the efforts to struggle deforestation.
In addition, there may be an inner dispute in the authorities between environmentalists and these in favor of mining and huge infrastructure initiatives. Petrobras, the state-run oil firm, is making an attempt to get authorization to analysis and drill offshore oil reserves in the mouth of the Amazon River. The federal environmental safety company did a conclusive report suspending the operation, saying it’s vital and threatens the area’s delicate surroundings and indigenous communities. And, in fact, it could be one other supply of greenhouse fuel emissions.
That stated, it is not a denialist authorities. I ought to point out the fast response from the administration to the Yanomami genocide earlier this 12 months. In January, an impartial media group named Sumaúma reported on the deaths of over 5 hundred indigenous kids from the Yanomami group in the Amazon over the previous 4 years. This was an enormous shock in Brazil, and the administration responded instantly. They despatched process forces to the area and at the moment are expelling the unlawful miners that have been bringing illnesses and have been in the end chargeable for these humanitarian tragedies. To be clear: It continues to be an issue. It’s not solved. But that is already a great instance of optimistic motion.
Fighting deforestation in the Amazon and the Cerrado, one other biome vital to local weather regulation in Brazil, won’t be simple. Rebuilding the environmental coverage will take time, and the businesses chargeable for enforcement are understaffed. In addition, environmental crime has grow to be extra subtle, connecting with different main prison organizations in the nation. In April, for the first time, there was a discount in deforestation in the Amazon after two consecutive months of upper numbers. These are nonetheless preliminary information, and it’s nonetheless too early to verify whether or not they sign a turning level and might point out an inclination for deforestation to lower. On the different hand, the Cerrado registered document deforestation in April.
There are issues all over the place in the economic system and politics that Lula should face. In the first week of the new time period, on Jan. 8, we noticed an revolt in Brasília, the nation’s capital, from Bolsonaro voters who wouldn’t settle for the election outcomes. The occasions resembled what Americans noticed in the Capitol assaults in 2021. We additionally appear to have imported issues from the United States, like mass killings in faculties. We by no means used to have them in Brazil, however we’re seeing them now. I’m curious to see how the nation will handle these issues and if the U.S. may encourage options to that. That’s one thing I’m desirous about, being right here: Are there options right here? What are they?
Q: What have you ever realized so removed from MIT and your fellowship?
A: It’s arduous to place every little thing into phrases! I’m principally taking programs and attending lectures on urgent points to humanity, like existential threats equivalent to local weather change, synthetic intelligence, biosecurity, and extra.
I’m studying about all these points, but in addition, as a journalist, I feel that I’m studying extra about how I can incorporate the scientific strategy into my work; for instance, being extra pro-positive. I’m already a rigorous journalist, however I’m desirous about how I will be extra rigorous and extra clear about my strategies. Being in the educational and scientific surroundings is inspiring that approach.
I’m additionally studying rather a lot about how you can cowl scientific matters and desirous about how know-how can provide us options (and issues). I’m studying a lot that I feel I’ll want a while to digest and totally perceive what this era means for me!
Q: You talked about synthetic intelligence. Would you prefer to weigh in on this topic and what you’ve been studying?
A: It has been a very good semester to be at MIT. Generative synthetic intelligence, which turned extra widespread after ChatGPT, has been a subject of intense dialogue this semester, and I used to be in a position to attend many courses, seminars, and occasions about AI right here, particularly from a coverage perspective.
Algorithms have influenced the economic system, society, and public well being for a few years. It has had nice outcomes, but in addition injustice. Popular methods like ChatGPT have made this know-how extremely widespread and accessible, even for these with no pc data. This is frightening and, at the identical time, very thrilling. Here, I realized that we want guardrails for synthetic intelligence, identical to different applied sciences. Think of the pharmaceutical or vehicle industries, which have to fulfill security standards earlier than placing a brand new product on the market. But with synthetic intelligence, it should be totally different; provide chains are very advanced and generally not very clear, and the velocity at which new assets develop is so quick that it challenges the policymaker’s potential to reply.
Artificial intelligence is altering the world radically. It’s thrilling to have the privilege of being right here and seeing these discussions happen. After all, I’ve a future to report on. At least, I hope so!
Q: What are you working on going ahead?
A: After MIT, I’m going to New York, the place I’ll be working with The New York Times in their internship program. I’m actually enthusiastic about that as a result of it is going to be a special tempo from MIT. I’m additionally doing analysis on carbon credit score markets and hope to proceed that mission, both in a reporting or educational surroundings.
Honestly, I really feel impressed to maintain finding out. I might like to spend extra time right here at MIT. I might like to do a grasp’s or be part of any program right here. I’m going to work on coming again to academia as a result of I feel that I have to study extra from the educational surroundings. I hope that it is at MIT as a result of actually, it is the most fun surroundings that I’ve ever been in, with all the folks right here from totally different fields and totally different backgrounds. I’m not a scientist, but it surely’s inspiring to be with them, and if there is a approach that I may contribute to their work in a approach that they are contributing to my work, I’ll be thrilled to spend extra time right here.