International seminar to discuss offshore environmental licensing

FGV Energy and the Environmental Licensing Study Group of the American Chamber of Commerce of Rio de Janeiro (AmCham Rio) will hold the “1st International Seminar or Offshore Environmental Licensing”on November 7, starting at 8 a.m., at FGV’s Cultural Center (Praia de Botafogo, 186. Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro/RJ). The event will gather experts to discuss international best practices for the licensing process, as well as advances and opportunities for the Brazilian system.

Environmental licensing is a tool of the National Environmental Policy created by Law No. 6938/1981, in order to promote control prior to the construction, deployment, expansion and activities that use natural resources. In the assessment of experts, however, there are still issues preventing it from being fully leveraged. In this sense, the main problems include high costs, delays and excessive bureaucracy to obtain environmental licenses.

The Environmental Licensing Database was recently launched as an initiative of the International Association of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC) in order to demystify these difficulties, with support from the regulatory agencies, and will be one of the topics discussed during the event, which comprises two panels. In the first panel, “Global best practices for offshore licensing”, Katherine Guttenplan, an Environmental Specialist from Ecology & Environment, will provide an overview of American environmental licensing. João Carlos Corrêa, Country Manager at Spectrum Brazil and a member of the IAGC, will address the relevance of creating an integrated database. Werner Grau, partner at Pinheiro Neto Advogados, will be the moderator.

The second panel will discuss aspects of environmental licensing and decommissioning. During the presentations, the participants will discuss the advances, effects of new technologies and international case studies for the segment. Marcelo Mafra, Superintendent for Operational Safety and the Environment at ANP, will present the advances in regulation; and Bruno Graffino, Environmental Analyst at IBAMA, will focus on the challenges of decommissioning in Brazil. Áttila Coury, Head of the Waterway Traffic Department of the Directorate of Ports and Coasts of the Brazilian Navy, will talk about the strategic role of cooperation between navies and agencies; and Eduardo Zacaron, Decommissioning Manager at Petrobras, will address the new technologies in the segment. Pedro Gonçalves, a researcher from FGV Energy, will provide context for the panel. Luiz Gustavo Bezerra, Leader of the Environmental Licensing Study Group of AmCham Rio, will be the moderator.

Go to the website to learn more and register.