Meet Caetano de Campos Lopes, C3's Director of Climate Policy
This summer we want you to get to know our growing team. Caetano de Campos Lopes is our Director of Climate Policy. Find out what he enjoys most about this work!
Briefly describe your role at C3.
As C3's Climate Policy Director, I oversee the organization's policy development and advocacy, in order to promote municipal and state climate solutions that are customized to local contexts, cost-effective, equitable and inclusive.
What is one thing you've done at C3 that you are proud of?
Back in 2019, I engaged with and surveyed families of a lower-income immigrant neighborhood that, although living in small dwellings, have year-round average home energy bills about 3x higher than the average bill in our community.
After engaging with them, C3 organized advocacy efforts for improving the energy efficiency levels of homes in that community; which was followed by an energy-efficiency pilot led by LEAP (the Local Energy Alliance Program) that upgraded a total of 10 homes (of the 300 residing in that neighborhood).
As a result, the energy expenditures of these homes were reduced by 50% and the total energy savings and environmental impacts of the pilot was equivalent to fully reducing to zero the energy consumption of 15 average homes in our community. Showing the incredible potential that energy equity investments have in our community.
What do you like most about working at C3?
What I most like about C3 is that it is an organization willing to discuss climate solutions in a way that invites every group to be a part of the solution, while customizing solutions to local contexts and prioritizing solutions that are cost-effective and equitable (in an inclusive understanding of the word). That’s the mindset we need to prevent the worst effects of climate change.
What is something that people are surprised to learn about you?
When I was 15 years old, I earned a scholarship to study in Mexico for 1 year. At the age of 18, I moved to Argentina, where I lived for nearly 12 years. In 2011, I received a two-months financial training in India. In 2018, I moved to the U.S., where I live and work ever since.
Combined with my multidisciplinary professional and academic background, this diversified exposure nurtured my ability to better understand cultural differences and similarities, allowing me to effectively engage with a wide-variety of groups and design practical solutions alongside decision-makers and community leaders.