Adriana Carvalho

Brazilian environmental engineer leading the world's largest urban reforestation initiative in São Paulo's favelas.

Adriana Carvalho pioneered the Green Favelas movement, transforming 20+ informal settlements in São Paulo into carbon-neutral communities since 2020. Her organization has planted over 150,000 native trees in high-density areas, reducing urban heat islands while creating green jobs for 3,000 residents. Carvalho’s 'Vertical Forest Walls' concept won the 2022 UN Environmental Innovation Award, demonstrating how low-cost vertical farming systems can coexist with existing infrastructure.

Born in a Rio de Janeiro favela, Carvalho’s work directly addresses the climate vulnerability of marginalized communities. Her documentary series 'Roots of Resistance' chronicles residents' participation in designing eco-friendly public spaces. The initiative's partnership with Volkswagen Brazil in 2023 introduced electric microbuses powered by solar energy harvested from the new tree canopies. Carvalho's 2024 whitepaper proposes replicating the model in 50 Latin American cities, emphasizing community-led climate solutions over top-down approaches.