Background
Smeraldi was born in Florence, Italy.
chairman founder leader pilot author
Smeraldi was born in Florence, Italy.
As journalist and author, he published essays and books on environment, development, sustainable enterprises, the Amazon, forestry, travel and culinary arts, as well as founded the website. He is author of a landmark definition of sustainability, in a book from 2005: "sustainability is a moving target, something you never reach at its center and of which you might rather learn to foresee the movements". He is a Brazilian and Italian national.
After starting his career as a journalist and war correspondent, he joined the environmental movement in the mid-eighties.
He became internationally known when he was elected Chairman of the International non-governmental organization Steering Committee for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, with over 100 heads of state. Smeraldi regularly writes opinion editorials on mainstream newspapers.
In 2013, he was appointed to the Committee for the Implementation of the Forestry Code, an ad hoc federal advisory body. At international level, he co-chaired the "Climate and Forest Dialogue" and serves on the board of The Forests Dialogue, both hosted by Yale University (2004 - 2010).
In the past, he represented Friends of the Earth International at United Nations-Economic and Social Council (of the UN) in 1989-1999.
From 1996 to 2004, he served as member and Chair of the International Advisory Group to the G-7 Pilot Program for Brazilian Rainforests. In 2012-2013, he acted as a member os ISEAL´s steering committee on Credibility Principles of Standards. He acted as senior advisor to various United Nations agencies, the World Bank and the President of the Republic of Brazil.
In 2000, he was awarded with the Henry Ford Prize for Environmental Conservation.
His principal book is Novo Manual de Negócios Sustentáveis published in 2009 by Publifolha, about innovation and sustainability strategies in business. Over the last few years, he was engaged with in raising a high profile campaign by Amigos da Terra, to introduce better sanitary, quality and sustainability standards into Brazil´s cattle chains, in particular beef
Smeraldi is also a long-time practitioner in cooking labs and workshops, as well as engaged in a movement for promoting biodiversity-related terroirs for culinary purposes, along with other Brazilian and foreign gastronomes.
In 2010, he launched, with over 40 of the most reputed world´s chefs, the São Paulo Charter on Gastronomy and Sustainability. He also writes culinary essays and acts as judge in gastronomic awards.
In Brazil, he served as a member of the National Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2006 - 2008) and of the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change (since 2000), both appointed by the President of the Republic. He is also member of the Susteinability Board at Santander and Suzano companies. He was also member of the board of the global Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels (2007 - 2010.