In the project’s second year, students and teachers learn more about environment-related topics and the preparation of greenhouse gas inventories

Paraná, January 18, 2024 – In 2023, around 160 students and teachers from schools in Telêmaco Borba and Imbaú benefited from the “Cauibi pelo clima” program, implemented by Klabin in partnership with the public sector. The goal of the initiative is to train teachers at state schools on issues related to environment conservation. Teachers and school managers receive guidance on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and climate change, while also learning how to address the issue with students and register the GHG emissions of their respective schools.
2023 was the second straight year in which this specific activity was performed. Now, the time has come to reap the rewards of these initiatives, which are the continuation of the training courses that began in 2022, when the teachers had their initial contact with the issue. At that time, the teachers participated in the Climate Learning Journey organized by The Climate Reality Project Brazil, a global organization that transforms individuals into activists capable of pursuing solutions that mitigate the climate crisis and promote significant changes on the issue worldwide. In Brazil, the NGO is represented by Centro Brasil no Clima since 2016 and has almost 4,000 leaders from the Climate Reality Project.

Between 2022 and 2023, managers and students were educated on climate issues, and received the tools and knowledge needed to deal with the issue in a simple manner, besides seeking solutions to improve living conditions. After this initial stage, the schools were visited to identify and analyze the sources of greenhouse gas emissions. About 15 teachers were trained to complete the GHG inventories of their schools, based on a detailed analysis of emissions within the three measurement scopes (scopes 1, 2 and 3). Differentiating the scopes is a way of grouping the sources of emissions between those generated by the school and those from external sources, through its value chain (vendors, shippers, customers, external travel etc.). After learning how to measure them, the teachers were tasked with finding ways to decrease them, such as through energy and water consumption, and showing students the importance of the simple act of turning off the lights whenever leaving an empty room.

In all, four schools from Telêmaco Borba, Imbaú and Ortigueira completed the inventory and learned the magnitude of their emissions during 2022. The project continued in 2023 and the 160 students already impacted by it completed a simplified inventory of greenhouse gases.
 “Every year we are making progress in raising awareness of climate change among the population. Both teachers and students become multipliers of knowledge in their communities, creating a positive chain for the well-being of society as a whole and for the benefit of the environment”, said Júlio Nogueira, Sustainability and Environment Manager at Klabin.

Held since 2001 in Paraná, the Klabin Caiubi Environmental Education Program is in its 22nd edition. It was expanded to Santa Catarina in 2008, reaching Feira de Santana, Bahia, in 2019 and São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul, in 2021. In 2022, Caiubi expanded to Jundiaí and Angatuba in the state of São Paulo. And with the “Caiubi pelo clima” initiative, it is now reaching high school students. In over two decades, more than 6,000 teachers have participated in its cycles, and over 480,000 students from around 1,640 schools have benefitted.