For over 20 years, I have been striving to turn a dream into an endeavor with a clear purpose: to improve the planet we live on. To reflect on what I have already built and where I still want to go, I started a new walk two weeks ago. I set off from Saint Jean Pied de Port, in France, towards the city of Santiago de Compostela, in Spain, one of the oldest and most challenging pilgrimage routes in the old continent.
I left behind the intense routine of an executive in Brazil to dive back into my essence, into the values that have guided me throughout my journey until now. I have already covered more than 350 kilometers of the path, in an environment of humidity, fog, cold, steep terrains, plantations, and historical buildings. Instead of the hectic life, only silence and the observations that accompany each step of the long journey towards a life goal.
The pains and physical effort go hand in hand with introspection, a retrospective immersion that we often cannot achieve because we are swept away by the current of everyday decisions. I recalled my childhood, the long walks in the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul, in my hometown, Itatiba do Sul.
Here I am an attentive observer of this land and its people, who have greatly influenced our history in Brazil. A land marked by conflicts, great wars, political advances and setbacks. We need to learn from them, enhance the good things, and make progress in what needs to be improved in Brazil and the world.
When I step into these cities of Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos, I feel an immediate connection and think about the planet we want to leave for future generations. Reducing environmental impacts is one of our greatest challenges, without borders, because the planet is one.
How to create a sustainable future for everyone, everywhere, is the answer I have been pursuing my entire life.
My journey is intrinsically linked to the development of biofuels in Brazil. Here we understand the urgency of stimulating this development as a short-term solution to tackle global warming. The recent climate tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul and in other places on the planet do not allow us to wait.
In the midst of this journey, my greatest learning is that no one walks the path alone! And thus I strengthen my purpose in the energy transition. And the strength of the belief that this will be the greatest legacy left for future generations, for my family and daughters, who are here with me in thought.
We continue walking and learning with the strength of God and Santiago!